m 


1! 


KING  MUNZA  IN  FULL  DRESS. 


THE 

HEART   OF  AFRICA. 

THREE  YEARS'  TRAVELS  AND  ADVENTURES 

IN 

THE  UNEXPLORED  REGIONS  OF  CENTRAL  AFRICA. 

from:    186S    TO    1871. 

By  dr.  GEORG   SCHWEINFURTH. 

translated  by  ellen  e.  frewer. 
with  an  introduction  by^  winwood  reade. 

IlSr    TTVO    VOLTJIVIES. 

Vol.  II. 

WITH    MAPS    AND   WOODCUT    ILLUSTRATIONS. 


^J^^^^^>V 


NEW    YORK: 

HARPER   &    BROTHERS,   PUBLISHERS, 

FRANKLIN     SQUARE 
1874. 


S^ 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTEE    XIII. 

The  NiAM-NiAM  —  Signification  of  the  name  —  General  characteristics  — 
Distinct  nationality  —  Complexion  and  tattooing  —  Time  spent  on  hair- 
dressing —  Frisure  a  la  gloire  —  Favourite  adornments  —  Weapons  — 
Soldierly  bearing  —  A  nation  of  hunters  —  Women  agriculturists  —  The 
best  beer  in  Africa  —  Cultivated  plants  —  Domestic  animals  —  Dogs  — 
Preparation  of  maize  —  Cannibalism  —  Analogy  with  the  Fans  of  the 
West  Coast  — Architecture  —  Power  of  the  princes  —  Their  households 

—  Events  during  war  —  Immunity  of  the  white  man  —  Wanton  de- 
struction of  elephants  —  Bait  for  wild-fowl  —  Arts  and  manufactures  — 
Forms  of  gi-eeting  —  Position  of  the  women — An  African  pastime  — 
Musical  taste  —  Professional  jesters  and  minstrels  —  Praying-machine 

—  Auguries  —  Mourning  for  the  dead  —  Disposal  of  the  dead  —  Genea- 
logical table  of  Niam-niam  princes     ,.  • Page  1 


CHAPTEE    XIV. 

Mohammed's  friendship  for  Munza  —  Invitation  to  an  audience  —  Solemn 
escort  to  the  royal  halls  —  Waiting  for  the  king  —  Architecture  of  the 
halls  —  Grand  display  of  ornamental  weapons  —  Fantastic  attire  of  the 
sovereign  —  Features  and  expression  —  Stolid  composure  —  Oflerinc 
gifts  —  Toilette  of  Munza's  wives  —  The  king's  mode  of  smoking  —  Use 
of  the  cola-nut  —  Musical  performances  —  Court  fool  —  Court  eunuch  — 
Munza's  oration  —  Monbuttoo  hymn  —  Munza's  gratitude  —  A  present 
of  a  bouse  —  Curiosity  of  natives  —  Skull-market  —  Niam-niam  envoys 
—  Fair  complexion  of  natives  —  Visit  from  Munza's  wives  —  Triumphal 
procession  —  A  bath  under  surveillance  —  Discovery  of  the  sword-bean  — 
Munza's  castle  and  private  apartments  —  Eeserve  on  geographical  sub- 
jects —  Non-existence  of  Piaggia's  lake  —  My  dog  exchanged  for  a 
pygmy  —  Goats  of  the  Momvoo  —  Extract  of  meat  —  Khartoomers' 
stations  in  Monbuttoo  country  —  Mohammed's  plan  for  proceeding  south- 
wards—  Temptation  to  penetrate  farther  towards  interior  —  Money  and 
good  fortune  —  Great  festival  —  Cajsar  dances  —  Munza's  visits  —  The 
Guinea-hog  —  My  washing-tub 37 


yir\oo/rQ 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER    XV. 

The  MoNBUTTOo  —  Previous  accounts  of  the  Monbuttoo  —  Population  — 
Surroundins  nations  —  Neglect  of -agriculture  —  Products  of  the  soil  — 
Produce  of  the  chase  —  Forms  of  greeting  —  Preparation  of  food  —  Uni- 
versal cannibalism  —  National  pride  and  warlike  spirit — Power  of  the 
sovereign  —  His  habits  —  The  royal  household  —  Advanced  culture  of 
tlic  Monbuttoo  —  Peculiarities  of  race  —  Fair  hair  and  complexion  — 
Analogy  to  the  Fulbe  —  Preparation  of  bark  —  Nudity  of  the  women  — 
Painting  of  the  body  -^  Coiffure  of  men  and  women  —  Mutilation  not 
practised  —  Equipment  of  warriors  —  Manipulation  of  iron  —  Early 
knowledge  of  copper  —  Probable  knowledge  of  platinum  —  Tools  — 
Wood-carving  —  Stools  and  benches  —  Symmetry  of  water-bottles  — 
Large  halls  —  Love  of  ornamental  trees  —  Conception  of  Supreme 
Being Page  80 


CHAPTER    XVI. 

The  Pygmies  —  Nubian  stories — Ancient  classical  allusions  —  Homer, 
Herodotus,  Aristotle  —  My  introduction  to  Pygmies  —  Adimokoo  the 
Akka  —  Close  questioning  —  War-dance  —  Visits  from  many  Akka  — 
Mummery's  Pygmy  corps  —  My  adopted  Pygmy  —  Nsewue's  life  and 
death  —  Dwarf  races  of  Africa  —  Accounts  of  previous  authors :  Battel, 
Dapper,  Kolie  —  Analogy  of  Akka  with  Bushmen  —  Height  and  com- 
plexion—  Hair  and  beards  —  Shape  of  the  body  —  Awkward  gait  — 
Graceful  hands— Form  of  skull  —  Size  of  eyes  and  ears  —  Lips  — 
Gesticulations  —  Dialect  inarticulate  —  Dexterity  and  cunning  —  Mun- 
za's  protection  of  the  race 122 


CHAPTER    XVII. 

Return  to  the  North  — Tikkitikki's  reluctance  to  start  —  Passage  of  the 
Gadda  —  Sounding  the  Keebaly  —  The  riVer  Kahpily  —  Cataracts  of 
the  Keebaly  —  Kubby's  refusal  of  boats  — Our  impatience  —  Crowds 
of  hippopotamuses  —  Possibility  of  fording  the  river  —  Origin  and  con- 
nection of  the  Keebaly  —  Division  of  highland  and  lowland  — Geo- 
graphical expressions  of  Arabs  and  Nubians  —  Mohammedan  perversions 
—  Return  to  Nembey  —  Bivouac  in  the  border-wilderness  —  Eating 
wax  — The  Niam-niam  declare  war  — Pariey  with  the  enemy  — My 
mistrust  of  the  guides  —  Treacherous  attack  on  Mohammed  —  M(>- 
hammed's  dangerous  wound  — Open  war  — Detruncated  heads  — Effect 


CONTENTS.  V 

of  arrows  — Mohammed's  defiance  —  Attack  on  the  abattis  —  Pursuit  of 
the  enemy  — Inexplicable  appearance  of  10,000  men  —  Waudo's  unpro- 
pitious  omen  —  My  Niam-niam  and  their  oracle  —  Mohammed's  speedy 
cure  —  Solar  phenomenon  —  Dogs  barbarously  speared  —  Women  cap- 
tured —  Niam-niam  affection  for  their  wives  —  Calamus  —  Upper  course 
of  the  Mbrwole  —  Fresh  captive  —  Her  composure  —  Alteration  in 
scenery  —  Arrival  at  the  Nabambisso      Page  147 


CHAPTEE    XVIII. 

Solitary  days  and  short  provisions  —  Productive  ant-hill — Ideal  plenty 
and  actual  necessity  —  Attempt  at  epicurism  —  Expedition  to  the  east 

—  Papyrus  swamp  —  Disgusting  food  of  the  Niam-niam  —  Merdyan's 
Seriba  —  Hyaiua  as  beast  of  prey  —  Losing  the  way  —  Reception  in 
Tuhamy's  Seriba  —  Scenery  of  Mondoo  —  Gyabir's  marriage  —  Dis- 
covery of  the  source  of  the  Dyoor — iMount  Baginze  —  Vegetation  of 
mountain  —  Cyanite  gneiss  —  Mohammed's  campaign  against  Mbeeoh  — 
Three  Bongo  missing — Skulls  Nos.  36,  37,  and  38  —  Indifference  of 
Nubians  to  cannibalism  —  Horrible  scene  —  Change  in  mode  of  living  — 
Invasion  of  ants  —  Peculiar  method  of  crossing  the  Sway  —  Bad  tidings 

—  Successful  chase  —  Extract  of  meat  —  Return  of  long  absent  friends  — 
Adventures  of  Mohammed's  detachment  —  Route  from  Rikkete  to 
Kanna  —  Disappointment  with  Niam-niam  dog  —  Limited  authority  of 
Nganye  —  Suspension-bridge  over  the  Tondy         194 


CHAPTER    XIX. 

Division  of  the  caravan  —  Trip  to  the  east  —  African  elk —  Bamboo-forests 

—  Seriba  Mbomo  on  the  Lehssy  —  Abundance  of  corn  —  Route  between 
Kuddoo  and  Mbomo  —  Maize-culture  —  Harness-bushbock  —  Leopard 
carried  in  triumph  —  Leopards  and  panthers  —  The  Babuckur  —  Lips  of 
the  Babuckur  women  —  Surprised  by  buffaloes — Accident  in  crossing 
the  Lehssy  —  Tracts  of  wilderness  —  Buffaloes  in  the  bush  —  The 
Mashirr  hills  —  Tamarinds  again — Wild  dates  —  Tikkitikki  and  the 
cows  —  The  Viceroy's  scheme  —  Hunger  on  the  march  —  Passage  of  the 
Tondy  —  Suggestion  for  a  ferry  — Prosperity  of  Ghattas's  establishments 

—  Arrival  of  expected  stores  —  A  dream  realised  —  Trip  to  Kurkur  — 
Hysena  dogs  —  Dislike  of  the  Nubians  to  pure  water  —  Two  soldiers 
killed  by  Dinka  —  Attempt  to  rear  an  elephant  —  My  menagerie  — 
Accident  from  an  arrow  —  Cattle  plagues  —  Meteorology  —  Trip  to  the 
Dyoor  —  Gyabir's  delusion  —  Bad  news  of  Mohammed  —  Preparations 
for  a  second  Niam-niam  journey       246 


vi  CONTENTS. 


CHAPTEE    XX. 

A  disastrous  day  —  Failure  to  rescue  my  effects  —  Burnt  Seriba  by  night 
— Comfortless  bed  —  A  wintry  aspect  —  Rebuilding  the  Seriba  —  Cause 
of  the  fire  —  Idrees's  apathy  —  An  exceptionally  wet  day  —  Bad  news 
of  Niam-niam  expedition  —  Measuring  distance  by  footsteps  —  Start  to 
the  Dyoor  —  Khalil's  kind  reception  —  A  restricted  wardrobe  —  Tem- 
perature at  its  minimum  —  Corn  requisitions  of  Egyptian  troops  —  Slave 
trade  carried  on  by  soldiers  —  Suggestions  for  improved  transport  — 
Chinese  hand-baiTows  —  Defeat  of  Khartoomers  by  Ndoruma  —  Nu- 
bians' fear  of  bullets  —  A  lion  shot  —  Nocturnal  disturbance  —  Mea- 
surements of  the  river  Dyoor  —  Hippopotamus  hunt —  Habits  of  hippo- 
potamus —  Hippopotamus  fat  —  Nile  whips  —  Recovery  of  a  manuscript 
—  Character  of  the  Nubians  —  Nubian  superstitions  —  Strife  in  the 
Egyptian  camp Page  289 


CHAPTEE    XXI. 

Fresh  wanderings  —  Dyoor  reYnedy  for  wounds  —  Crocodiles  in  the  Ghetty 
—  Former  residence  of  Miss  Tinne  —  Dirt  and  disorder  —  The  Baggara- 
Rizegat  —  An  enraged  fanatic  —  The  Pongo  —  Frontiers  of  the  Bongo 
and  Golo  —  A  buffalo-calf  shot  —  Idrees  Wod  Defter's  Seriba — Golo 
dialect  —  Corn  magazines  of  the  Golo  —  The  Kooroo  —  The  goats'  brook 
— Increasing  level  of  land — Seebehr's  Seriba  Dehm  Nduggoo — Discontent 
of  the  Turks  —  Visit  to  an  invalid  —  Ibrahim  Effendi  —  Establishment 
of  the  Dehms  —  Nubians  rivals  to  the  slave-deaiers  —  Population  of  Dar 
Ferteet  —  The  Kredy  —  Overland  route  to  Kordofan  —  Shekka  — 
Copper  mines  of  Darfoor  —  Raw  copper 332 


CHAPTEE    XXII. 

Underwood  of  Cycade^e  —  Peculiar  mills  of  the  Kredy  — Wanderings  in 
the  wilderness  —  Crossing  the  Beery  —  Inhospitable  reception  at  Man- 
goor  —  Numerous  brooks  —  Huge  emporium  of  slave-trade  —  Highest 
point  of  my  travels  —  Western  limit  —  Gallery- woods  near  Dehm 
Gudyoo  —  Scorbutic  attack  —  Dreams  and  their  fulfilment  —  Courtesy 
of  Yumma  —  Remnants  of  ancient  mountain  ridges  —  Upper  course  of 
the  Pongo  —  Information  about  the  far  west  —  Great  river  of  Dar  Aboo 
Dinga  —  Barth's  investigations — Primogeniture  of  the  Bahr-el-Arab 
—  First  giving  of  the  weather  —  Elephant-hunters  from  Darfoor  —  The 
Sehre  —  Wild  game  around  Dehm  Adlan  —  Cultivated  plants  of  the 
Sehre  —  Magic  tuber  —  Deficiency  of  water  —  A  night  without  a  roof — 
Irrepressible  good  spirits  of  the  Sehre  — Lower  level  of  the  land  — 


CONTENTS.  vii 

A  miniature  mountain-rauge  —  Norway  rats  —  Gigantic  fig-tree  in 
Moody  —  The  "  evil  -eye  "  —  Little  steppe-burniug  —  Eeturn  to  Khalil's 
quarters       373 


CHAPTEE    XXIII. 

Katherine  II.'s  villages  —  Goods  bartered  by  slave-traders  —  Agents  of 
slave-traders  —  Baseness  of  Fakis  —  Horrible  scene — Enthusiasm  of 
slave-dealers  —  Hospitality  shown  to  slave-dealers  —  Three  classes  of 
Gellahbas  —  Intercourse  with  Mofio  —  Price  of  slaves  —  Eelative  value 
of  races  —  Private  slaves  of  the  Nubians  —  Voluntary  slaves  —  Slave- 
women  —  The  murhaga  —  Agricultural  slave-labour  —  Population  of 
the  district  —  Five  sources  of  the  slave-trade  —  Eepressive  measures 
of  the  Government  —  Slave-raids  of  Mehemet  Ali  —  Slow  progress  of 
humanity  —  Accomplishment  of  half  the  work  —  Egypt's  mission  — 
No  co-operation  from  Islamism  —  Picgeneration  of  the  East  —  Depopu- 
lation of  Africa  —  Indignation  of  the  traveller  —  Means  for  suppressing 
the  slave-trade  —  Commissioners  of  slaves  —  Chinese  immigration  — 
Foundation  and  protection  of  great  States       Page  410 


CHAPTEE    XXIV. 

Tidings  of  war  —  Two  months'  hunting  —  Yolo  antelopes  —  Eeed-rats  — 
Habits  of  the  Aulacodus  —  Eiver-oysters  —  Soliman's  arrival  —  Ad- 
vancing season  —  Execution  of  a  rebel  —  Eeturn  to  Ghattas's  Seriba  — 
Disgusting  population  —  Allagabo  —  Alarm  of  fire  —  Strange  evolutions 
of  hartebeests  —  Nubian  cattle-raids  —  Traitors  among  the  natives  — 
Eemains  of  Shol's  huts  —  Lepers  and  slaves  —  Ambiguous  slave-trading 

—  Down  the  Gazelle  —  The  Bal^eniceps  again  —  Dying  hippopotamus 

—  Invocation  of  saints  —  Disturbance  at  night  —  False  alarm  —  Taken 
in  tow  —  The  Mudir's  camp  —  Crowded  boats  —  Confiscation  of  slaves 

—  Surprise  in  Fashoda  —  Slave-caravans  on  the  bank  —  Arrival  in 
Khartoom  —  Telegram  to  Berlin  —  Seizure  of  my  servants  —  Eemon- 
strance  with  the  Pasha  —  Mortality  in  the  fever  season  —  Tikkitikki's 
death  —  GdXarra,  daXarra         443 


LIST   OF   ILLUSTRATIONS. 

(ENGRAVED  BY  J.  D.  COOPER.) 


King  Munza  in  full  dress 

Remarkable  head-dress  of  the  Niam-niam  .. 

Knives,  scimitars,  trum bashes,  and  shield  of  the  Niam-niam 

Niara-uiam  warrior 

Niam-niam  warriors 

Clay  pipes  of  the  Niam-niam . . 

Niam-niam  dog 

Niam-niam  granary 

Bamogee  :  or  hut  for  the  boys 

Niam-niam  handicraft 

Munza's  residence 

Breed  of  cattle  from  the  IMaoggoo  country  . . 

Goat  of  the  Momvoo     .. 

King  Munza  dancing  before  his  wives 

King  Munza's  dish 

Monbuttoo  warriors 

Monbuttoo  woman 

Weapons  of  the  Monbuttoo     .. 

Spear-heads 

Hatchet,  spade,  and  adze,  of  the  Monbuttoo 

Wooden  kettle-drum     .. 

Single  seat  used  by  the  women 

Seat-rest 

Water-bottles    .. 

Bongo  Woman.     Dinka  Woman 

Bomby  the  Akka 

Nsewue  the  Akka 

Dinka  pipe 

View  on  the  Keebaly,  near  Kubby    . . 


Frontispiece 


10 

11 

to  face   12 

14 

15 

.    20 

..   21 

..   26 

to  face  63 

..   64 

..   69 

to  face  74 

..   79 

..  103 

..  105 

..  107 

..  Ill 

..  112 

..  113 

..  114 

..  115 

..  116 

..   121 

..  130 

..  134 

..  146 

to  face   158 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS. 


A  pvllciy-t'firost 

Miiluiinmiil  (Ufies  liis  enemies 

( >ur  (liiily  life  in  camp.. 

Suspension-bridge  over  the  Tondy 

Horns  of  Central  African  Eland 

Golo  woman 

Corn-magazine  of  the  Golo 

Krcdy  hut 

Interior  of  Kredy  liut  . . 

"  Knrra,"  the  magic  tuber 

A  liongo  concert 

Slave-traders  from  Kordofan 

liabuckur  slave  . . 

Slave  at  work    . . 

Hunting  reed-rats 

Far-cl-boos.    (Aulacodus  Swinderianm) 

Bongo  village,  near  Geer 


PACK 

to  face  166 
to  face  111 
to  face  194 
to  face  244 
249 
350 
352 
375 
376 
399 
404 
to  face  410 
420 
424 
447 
449 
to  face  461 


1i     rontilaJr  Eji»i  of  Gujiiict     SO 


lUjiTer  ,\.  bn-rJier.t.  .\>>r  ii'J*- 


LithT.CKorb»eweit.  Berlin. 


THE  HEART  OF  AFRICA. 


CHAPTER    XIII. 

The  NiAM-yiAM.  Signification  of  the  name.  General  characteristics.  Distinct 
nationality.  Complexion  and  tattooing.  Time  spent  on  hair- dressing. 
Frisure  a  la  gloire.  Favourite  adornments.  Weapons.  Soldierly  bearing. 
A  nation  of  hunters.  Women  agriculturists.  The  best  beer  in  Africa. 
Cultivated  plants.  Domestic  animals.  Dogs.  Preparation  of  maize. 
Cannibalism.  Analogy  with  the  Fans  of  the  West  Coast.  Architecture. 
Power  of  the  princes.  Their  households.  Events  during  war.  Immunity 
of  the  white  man.  Wanton  destruction  of  elephants.  Bait  for  wild-fowl. 
Arts  and  manufactures.  Forms  of  greeting.  Position  of  the  women.  An 
African  pastime.  Musical  taste.  Professional  jesters  and  minstrels.  Pray- 
ing machine.  Auguries.  Mourning  for  the  dead.  Disposal  of  the  dead. 
Genealogical  table  of  Niam-niam  princes. 

Long  before  Mehemet  Ali,  by  despatching  his  expeditions 
up  the  White  Nile,  had  made  any  important  advance  into 
the  interior  of  the  unknown  continent — before  even  a  single 
sailing  vessel  had  ever  penetrated  the  grass-barriers  of  the 
G-azelle — at  a  time  when  European  travellers  had  never 
ventured  to  pass  the  frontiers  of  that  portion  of  Central 
Africa  which  is  subject  to  Islamism — whilst  the  heathen 
negro  countries  of  the  Soudan  were  only  beginning  to  dawn 
like  remote  nebulae  on  the  undefined  horizon  of  our  geo- 
graphical knowledge — tradition  had  already  been  circulated 
about  the  existence  of  a  people  with  whose  name  the  Mo- 
hammedans of  the  Soudan  were  accustomed  to  associate 
all  the  savagery  which  could  be  conjured  up  by  a  fertile 
imagination.  The  comparison  might  be  suggested  that  just  as 


2  THE  HEART  OF  AFRICA. 

at  the  present  day,  in  civilised  Europe,  questions  concerning 
the  descent  of  men  from  apes  form  a  subject  of  ordinary  con- 
versation, so  at  that  time  in  the  Soudan  did  the  Niam-niam 
(under  tlie  supposition  that  they  were  graced  with  tails)  serve 
as  common  ground  for  all  ideas  that  pertained  to  the  origin 
of  man.  This  people,  whose  existence  was  evoked  from  the 
mysterif  us  hordes  of  witches  and  goblins,  might  have  va- 
nished amidst  the  dim  obscurity  of  the  primeval  forests  if  it 
had  not  been  that  Alexandre  Dumas,  in  his  tale  of  '  I'Hoinme 
Ti  Queue,'  so  rich  in  its  charming  simplicity,  had,  exactly  at 
the  right  moment,  raised  a  small  memorial  which  contributed 
to  its  preservation. 

To  lift  in  a  measure  the  veil  which  had  enveloped  the 
Niam-niam  with  this  legendary  and  magic  mystery  fell  to 
the  lot  of  my  predecessor  Piaggia,  that  straightforward  and 
intrepid  Italicm  who,  animated  by  the  desire  of  opening  up 
some  reliable  insight  into  their  real  habits,  had  resided  alone 
for  a  wliole  year  amongst  them.* 

I  reckon  it  my  own  good  fortune  that  I  was  so  soon  to 
follow  him  into  the  very  midst  of  this  cannibal  population. 
It  was  indeed  a  period  of  transition  from  the  age  of  tradition 
to  that  of  positive  knowledge,  but  I  have  no  hesitation  in 
asserting  that  these  Niam-niam,  apart  from  some  specialities 
which  will  always  appertain  to  the  human  race  so  long  as  it 
hangs  unconsciously  upon  the  breast  of  its  great  mother 
Nature,  are  men  of  like  passions  with  ourselves,  equally 
subject  to  the  same  sentiments  of  grief  and  joy.  I  have 
interchanged  with  them  many  a  jest,  and  I  have  participated 
in  their  child-like  sports,  enlivened  by  the  animating  beating 
of  their  war-drums  or  by  the  simple  strains  of  their  man- 
dolins. 


*  In  the  '  BoUetino  della  Soc.  Geogr.  Italiana,'  1868,  pp.  91-168,  the  Marquis 
0.  Antinori  ha?,  from  the  verbal  communications  of  the  traveller  himself,  most 
fi.Dscientiously  collected  Piaggia's  experiences  and  observations  in  the  country 
of  the  Niam-niam  during  his  residence. 


APPELLATIONS  OF  THE  NIAM-NIAM.  3 

The  name  Niam-niam  *  is  borrowed  from  the  dialect  of  the 
Dinka,  and  means  "  eaters,"  or  rather  "  great  eaters,"  mani- 
festly betokening  a  reference  to  the  cannibal  propensities  of 
the  people.  This  designation  has  been  so  universally  incor- 
porated into  the  Ai'abic  of  the  Soudan,  that  it  seems  unad- 
visable  to  substitute  for  it  the  word  "  Zandey,"  the  name  by 
which  the  people  are  known  amongst  themselves.  Since 
among  the  Mohammedans  of  the  Soudan  the  term  Niam- 
niam  (plur.  Niamah-niam)  is  principally  associated  with  the 
idea  of  cannibalism,  the  same  designation  is  sometimes 
applied  by  them  to  other  nations  who  have  nothing  in 
common  with  the  true  Niam-niam,  or  "  Zandey,"  except  the 
one  characteristic  of  a  predilection  for  eating  human  flesh. 
The  neighbouring  nations  have  a  variety  of  appellations  to 
denote  them.  The  Bongo  on  the  north  sometimes  call  them 
Mundo,  and  sometimes  Manyanya ;  in  the  country  behind 
these  are  the  Dyoor,  wlio  uniformly  speak  of  them  as  the 
0-]\radyaka ;  the  tribe  of  the  Mittoo  on  the  east  give 
them  the  name  of  the  Makkarakka,  or  Kakkarakka;  the 
Golo  style  them  Kunda ;  whilst  among  the  Monbuttoo  they 
are  known  as  Babungera. 

The  greater  part  of  the  Niam-niam  country  lies  between 
the  fourth  and  sixth  parallels  of  north  latitude,  and  a  line 
drawn  across  the  centre  from  east  to  west  would  correspond 
with  the  watershed  between  the  basins  of  the  Nile  and  Tsad, 
My  own  travels  were  confined  exclusively  to  the  eastern 
portion  of  the  country,  which,  as  far  as  I  could  understand, 
is  bounded  in  that  direction  by  the  upper  course  of  the 
Tondy ;  but  in  that  district  alone  I  became  acquainted  with 
as  many  as  thirty-five  independent  chieftains  who  rule  over 
the  portion  of  Niam-niam  territory  that  is  traversed  by  the 
trading  companies  from  Khartoom. 

Of  the  extent  of  the  country  towards  the  west  I  was  unabk- 


*  It  should  again  be  mentioned  that  the  word  Niam-niam  is  a  dissyllable, 
and  l.as  the  Italian  pronunciation  of  Gnam-gnam 


4  THE  HEART  OF  AFRICA. 

to  gain  any  definite  information;  but  as  far  as  the  land  is 
known  to  the  Nubians  it  would  appear  to  cover  between  five 
and  six  degrees  of  longitude,  and  must  embrace  an  area  ol 
about  48,000  square  miles.  The  population  of  the  known 
regions  is  at  least  two  millions,  an  estimate  based  upon  the 
number  of  armed  men  at  the  disposal  of  the  chieftains 
through  whose  territory  I  travelled,  and  upon  the  corre- 
sponding reports  of  the  fighting  force  in  the  western  districts 
No  traveller  could  possibly  find  himself  for  the  first  time 
surrounded  by  a  group  of  true  Niam-niam  without  being 
almost  forced  to  confess  that  all  he  had  hitherto  witnessed 
amongst  the  various  races  of  Africa  was  comparatively  tame 
and  uninteresting,  so  remarkable  is  the  aspect  of  this  savage 
people.  No  one,  after  observing  the  promiscuous  inter- 
mingling of  races  which  (in  singular  contrast  to  the  unifor- 
mity of  the  soil)  prevails  throughout  the  entire  district  of 
the  Gazelle,  could  fail  to  be  struck  by  the  pronounced 
characteristics  of  the  Niam-niam,  which  make  them  capable 
of  being  identified  at  the  first  glance  amidst  the  whole  series 
of  African  races.  As  a  proof  of  this,  I  may  introduce  a  case 
in  point.  I  was  engaged  one  day  in  taking  the  measure- 
ments of  a  troop  of  Bongo  bearers,  when  at  once  I  detected 
that  the  leader  of  the  band  had  all  the  characteristics  of  the 
Niam-niam  type.  I  asked  him  how  it  happened  that  he  was 
a  "  nyare,"  i.e.,  a  local  overseer,  among  the  Bongo,  when  the 
mere  shape  of  his  head  declared  him,  beyond  a  doubt,  to  be 
a  Niam-niam.  To  the  amazement  of  all  who  were  present 
he  replied  that  he  was  born  of  Niam-niam  parents,  but  that 
it  had  been  his  fate  when  a  child  to  be  conveyed  into  the 
country  of  the  Bongo.  This  is  an  example  which  serves  to 
demonstrate  how  striking  are  the  distinctions  which  enable 
an  observer  to  carry  out  the  diagnosis  of  a  negro  with  such 
certainty,  and  to  arrive  at  conclusions  which  ordinarily  could 
only  be  conjectured  by  noticing  his  apparel  or  some  external 
and  accidental  adornments. 


APPEARANCE  OF  THE  NIAM-NIAM.  5 

I  propose  in  the  present  chapter  to  give  a  brief  summary 
of  the  characteristics  of  this  Niam-niam  people,  and  shall 
hope  so  to  explain  the  general  features  of  their  physiological 
and  osteological  aspect,  and  so  to  describe  the  details  of  their 
costume  and  ornaments,  that  I  may  not  fail  in  my  desire  tc» 
convey  a  tolerably  correct  imj^ression  of  this  most  striking  race. 

The  round  broad  heads  of  the  Niam-niam,  of  which  the 
proportions  may  be  ranked  among  the  lowest  rank  of  brachy- 
cephaly,  are  covered  with  the  thick  frizzly  hair  of  what 
are  termed  the  true  negroes;  this  is  of  an  extraordinary 
length,  and  arranged  in  long  plaits  and  tufts  flowing  over 
the  .  shoulders  and  sometimes  falling  as  low  as  the  waist. 
The  eyes,  almond-shaped  and  somewhat  sloping,  are  shaded 
with  thick,  sharply-defined  brows,  and  are  of  remarkable 
size  and  fulness;  the  wide  space  between  them  testifies  to 
the  unusual  width  of  the  skull,  and  contributes  a  mingled 
expression  of  animal  ferocity,  warlike  resolution,  and  inge- 
nuous candour.  A  flat  square  nose,  a  mouth  of  about  the 
same  width  as  the  nose,  with  very  thick  lips,  a  round  chin, 
and  full  plump  cheeks,  complete  the  countenance,  which 
may  be  described  as  circular  in  its  general  contour. 

The  body  of  the  Niam-niam  is  ordinarily  inclined  to  be 
fat,  but  it  does  not  commonly  exhibit  much  muscular 
strength.  The  average  height  does  not  exceed  that  of 
Europeans,  a  stature  of  5  feet  10^  inches  being  the  tallest 
that  I  measured.  The  upper  part  of  the  figure  is  long 
in  proportion  to  the  legs,  and  this  peculiarity  gives  a 
strange  character  to  their  movements,  although  it  do^s,  not 
impede  their  agility  in  their  war  dances. 

The  skin  in  colour  is  in  no  way  remarkable.     Like  that 

of  the  Bongo,  it  may  be  compared  to  the  dull  liue  of  a  cake 

of  chocolate.     Among  the  women,  detached  instances  may 

be  found  of  various  shades  of  a  copper-coloured  complexion, 

but  the  ground-tint  is  always  the  same — an  earthy  red,  in 

contrast  to  the  bronze  tint  of  the  true  Ethiopian  (Kushitic) 
Vol.  II.— 2 


C  THE  HEART  OF  AFRICA. 

races  of  Nubia.  As  marks  of  nationality,  all  the  "Zandey  " 
score  themselves  with  three  or  four  tattooed  squares  filled 
up  with  dots ;  they  place  these  indiscriminately  upon  the 
forehead,  the  temples,  or  the  cheeks.  They  have,  moreover, 
a  figure  like  the  letter  X  under  the  breasts;  and  in  some 
exceptional  cases  they  tattoo  the  bosom  and  upper  parts  of 
the  arm  with  a  variety  of  patterns,  either  stripes,  or  dotted 
lines,  or  zigzags.  No  mutilation  of  the  body  is  practised  by 
either  sex,  but  this  remark  must  be  subject  to  the  one  ex- 
ception that  they  fall  in  with  the  custom,  common  to  the 
whole  of  Central  Africa,  of  filing  the  incisor  teeth  to  a  point, 
for  the  purpose  of  effectually  griping  the  arm  of  an  adver- 
sary either  in  wrestling  or  in  single  combat. 

On  rare  occasions,  a  piece  of  material  made  from  the  bark 
of  the  Urostigma  is  worn  as  clothing  ;  but,  as  a  general  rule, 
the  entire  costume  is  composed  of  skins,  which  are  fastened 
to  a  girdle  and  form  a  picturesque  drapery  about  the  loins. 
The  finest  and  most  variegated  skins  are  chosen  for  this  pur- 
pose, those  of  the  genet  and  colobus  being  held  in  the  highest 
estimation ;  the  long  black  tail  of  the  quereza  monkey  (Colobus) 
i-s  also  fastened  to  the  dress.  Only  chieftains  and  members 
of  royal  blood  have  the  privilege  of  covering  the  head  with 
a  skin,  that  of  the  serval  being  most  generally  designated 
for  this  honour.  In  crossing  the  dewy  steppes  in  the  early 
morning  during  the  rainy  season,  the  men  are  accustomed  to 
wear  a  large  antelope  hide,  which  is  fastened  round  the 
neck,  and,  falling  to  the  knees,  effectually  protects  the  body 
from  the  cold  moisture  of  the  long  grass.  A  covering,  which 
always  struck  me  as  very  graceful,  was  formed  from  the  skin 
of  the  harness  bush-bock  (^4.  scri^ta),  of  which  the  dazzling 
white  stripes  on  a  yellowish  ground  never  fail  to  be  very 
effective.  The  sons  of  chieftains  wear  their  dress  looped  up 
on  one  side,  so  that  one  leg  is  left  entirely  bare. 

The  men  take  an  amount  of  trouble  in  arranging  their 
hair  which  is  almost  incredible,  whilst  nothing  could  be  more 


HEAD-DEESS  OF  THE  NIAM-NIAM.  7 

simple  and  unpretending  than  the  ordinary  head-gear  of  the 
women.  It  woukl,  indeed,  be  a  matter  of  some  difficulty  to 
discover  any  kind  of  plaits,  tufts,  or  top-knots  whicli  has 
not  already  been  tried  by  the  Niam-niam  men.  The  hair  is 
usually  parted  right  down  the  middle ;  towards  the  forehead 
it  branches  off,  so  as  to  leave  a  kind  of  triangle ;  from  the 
fork  which  is  thus  formed  a  tuft  is  raised,  and  carried  back 
to  be  fastened  behind  ;  on  eitlier  side  of  this  tuft  the  hair  is 


Remarkable  head-dress  of  the  Niam-niam. 


arranged  in  rolls,  like  the  ridges  and  crevices  of  a  melon. 
Over  the  temples  separate  rolls  are  gathered  up  into  knots, 
from  which  hang  more  tufts,  twisted  like  cord,  that  fall 
in  bunches  all  round  the  neck,  three  or  four  of  the  longest 
tresses  being  allowed  to  go  free  over  the  breast  and  shoulders. 
The  women  dress  their  hair  in  a  simpler  but  somewhat 
similar  manner,  omitting  the  long  plaits  and  tufts.  The 
most  peculiar  head-gear  that  I  saw  was  upon  some  men  who 


8  THE  HEART  OF  AFRICA. 

came  from  the  territory  of  Keefa,  and  of  this  a  representa- 
tion is  given  in  the  accompanying  portrait.  These  people 
reminded  me  very  much  of  the  description  given  by  Living- 
stone of  the  Balonda,  that  people  of  Londa,  on  the  Zambesi, 
which  he  came  across  during  his  first  journey.  The  head  is 
encircled  by  a  series  of  rays  like  the  glory  which  adorns  the 
likeness  of  a  saint.  This  circle  is  composed  entirely  of  the 
man's  own  hair,  single  tresses  being  taken  from  all  parts  of 
the  head  and  stretched  tightly  over  a  hoop,  which  is  orna- 
mented with  cowries.  The  hoop  is  fastened  to  the  lower 
rim  of  a  straw  hat  by  means  of  four  wires,  which  are 
drawn  out  before  the  men  lie  down  to  sleep,  when  the 
whole  arrangement  admits  of  being  folded  back.  This  ela- 
borate coiffure  demands  great  attention,  and  much  time 
must  be  devoted  to  it  every  day.  It  is  only  thp  men  who 
wear  any  covering  at  all  upon  their  head :  they  use  a 
cyhndrical  hat  without  any  brim,  square  at  the  top  and 
always  ornamented  with  a  waving  plume  of  feathers ;  the 
hat  is  fastened  on  by  large  hair-pins,  made  either  of  iron, 
copper,  or  ivory,  and  tipped  with  crescents,  tridents,  knobs, 
and  various  other  devices. 

A  very  favourite  decoration  is  formed  out  of  the  incisor 
teeth  of  a  dog  strung  together  under  the  hair,  and  hanging 
along  the  forehead  like  a  fringe.  The  teeth  of  different 
rodentia  likewise  are  arranged  as  ornaments  that  resemble 
strings  of  coral.  Another  ornament,  far  from  uncommon, 
is  cut  out  of  ivory  in  imitation  of  lions'  teeth,  and  arranged 
in  a  radial  fashion  all  over  the  breast,  the  effect  of  the 
white  substance  in  contrast  with  the  dark  skin  being  very 
striking.  Altogether  the  decoration  may  be  considered  as 
imposing  as  the  pointed  collar  of  the  days  of  chivalry,  and 
is  quite  in  character  with  the  warlike  nation  who  find 
their  pastime  in  hunting.  Glass  beads  are  held  in  far  less 
estimation  by  the  Niam-niam  than  by  the  neighbouring 
races;  and  only  that  lazuli   blue  sort  which  I  have  men- 


TRUMBASHES.  9 

tioned  as  known  iu  the  Khartoom  market  by  the  name 
of  "mandyoor"  finds  any  favour  at  all  amongst  them. 
Cowries  are  often  used  to  trim  the  girdles  as  well  as  the 
head-gear. 

The  principal  weapons  of  the  Niam-niam  are  their  lances 
and  their  trumbashes.  The  word  "trumbash,"  whicli  has 
been  incorporated  into  the  Arabic  of  the  Soudan,  is  the 
term  employed  in  Sennaar  to  denote  generally  all  the 
varieties  of  missiles  that  are  used  by  the  negro  races ;  it 
should,  however,  properly  be  applied  solely  to  that  sharp 
flat  projectile  of  wood,  a  kind  of  boomerang,  which  is  used 
for  killing  birds  or  hares,  or  auy  small  game :  when  the 
weapon  is  made  of  iron,  it  is  called  "  kulbeda."  The  truni- 
bash  of  the  Niam-niam  *  consists  ordinarily  of  several  limbs 
of  iron,  with  pointed  prongs  and  sharp  edges.  Iron  missiles 
very  similar  in  their  shape  are  found  among  the  tribes  of 
the  Tsad  basin;  and  a  weapon  constructed  on  the  same 
principle,  the  "changer  manger,"  is  in  use  among  the 
Marghy  and  the  Musgoo. 

The  trumbashes  are  always  attached  to  the  inside  of  the 
shields,  which  are  woven  from  the  Spanish  reed,  and  are 
of  a  long  oval  form,  covering  two-thirds  of  the  body;  they 
are  ornamented  with  black  and  white  crosses  or  other 
devices,  and  are  so  light  that  they  do  not  in  the  least 
impede  the  combatants  in  their  wild  leaps.  An  expert 
Niam-niam,  by  jumping  up  for  a  moment,  can  protect  his 
feet  from  the  flying  missiles  of  his  adversary.  Bows  and 
arrows,  which,  as  handled  by  the  Bongo,  give  them  a 
certain  advantage,  are  not  in  common  use  among  the 
Niam-niam,  who  possess  a  peculiar  weapon  of  attack  in 
their  singular  knives,  that  have  blades  like  sickles.  The 
Monbuttoo,  who  are  far  more  skilful  smiths  than  the  Niam- 
niam,  supply  them  with  most  of  these  weapons,  receiving 

*  The  accompanying  illustration  (page  10)  gives  examples  of  five  difl'erent 
forms  of  trumbash. 


10 


THE  HEART  OF  AFRICA. 


iu  return  a  heavy  kind  of  lance,  that  is  adapted  for  the 
elephant  and  buffalo  chase. 


Knivps,  pcimitnrs,  trumbashes.  and  shield  of  the  Xiam-niam. 
(The  shield  is  represented  in  three  different  positions.) 


NIAM-NIAM  WARRIOE. 


11 


Such  are  the  details  with  which  I  present  the  reader  with 
my  portrait  of  the  Niam-niam  in  his  full  accoutrement  of 
war.  With  his  lance  in  one  hand,  his  woven  shield  and 
trumbash  in  the  other — with  his  scimitar  in  his  girdle,  and 
his  loins  encircled  by  a  skin,  to  which  are  attached  the  tails 


of  several  animals — adorned  on  his  breast  and  on  his  fore- 
head by  strings  of  teeth,  the  trophies  of  war  or  of  the 
chase— his  long  hair  floating  freely  over  his  neck  and 
slioulders — his  large  keen  eyes  gleaming  from  beneath  his 


in  THE  HEAKT  OF  AFllICA. 

heavy  brow— liis  white  and  pointed  teeth  shining  -from 
between  his  parted  lips — he  advances  with  a  firm  and  defiant 
bearing,  so  that  tlie  stranger  as  he  gazes  upon  him  may- 
well  behold,  in  this  true  son  of  the  African  wilderness, 
every  attribute  of  the  wildest  savagery  that  may  be  con- 
jured up  by  the  boldest  flight  of  fancy.  It  is  therefore  by 
no  means  difficult  to  account  for  the  deep  impression  made 
by  the  Niam-niam  on  the  fantastic  imagination  of  the 
Soudan  Arabs.  I  have  seen  the  wild  Bishareen  and  other 
Bedouins  of  the  Nubian  deserts;  I  have  gazed  with  admi- 
ration upon  the  stately  war-dress  of  the  Abyssinians;  I 
have  been  riveted  with  surprise  at  the  supple  forms  of  the 
mounted  Baggara :  but  nowhere,  in  any  part  of  Africa,  have 
I  ever  come  across  a  people  that  in  every  attitude  and  every 
motion  exhibited  so  thorough  a  mastery  over  all  the  circum- 
stances of  war  or  of  the  chase  as  these  Niam-niam.  Other 
nations  in  comparison  seemed  to  me  to  fall  short  in  the 
perfect  ease — I  might  almost  say,  in  the  dramatic  grace — that 
characterised  their  every  movement. 

In  describing  this  people,  it  is  hard  to  determine  how 
far  they  ought  to  be  designated  as  a  nation  of  hunters,  or 
one  of  agriculturists,  the  two  occupations  apparently  being 
equally  distributed  between  the  two  sexes.  The  men  most 
studiously  devote  themselves  to  their  hunting,  and  leave 
the  culture  of  the  soil  to  be  carried  on  exclusively  by  the 
women.  Occasionally,  indeed,  the  men  may  bring  home  a 
supply  of  fruits,  tubers  and  funguses  from  their  excursions 
through  the  forests,  but  practically  they  do  nothing  for 
the  support,  of  their  families  beyond  providing  them  with 
game.  The  agriculture  of  the  Niam-niam,  in  contrast  with 
that  of  the  Bongo,  involves  but  a  small  outlay  of  labour. 
The  more  limited  area  of  the  arable  land,  the  larger  number 
of  inhabitants  that  are  settled  on  every  square  mile,  the 
greater  productiveness  of  the  soil,  of  which  in  some  districts 
the  exuberance   is  unsurpassed — all  combine  to  make  the 


ELEUSINE  BEER.  13 

cultivation  of  the  country  supremely  easy.  The  entire  land 
is  pre-eminently  rich  in  many  spontaneous  products,  animal 
and  vegetable  alike,  that  conduce  to  the  direct  maintenance 
of  human  life. 

The  Eleusine  coracana  (the  "  raggi  "  of  the  East  Indies), 
a  cereal  which  I  had  found  only  scantily  propagated  among 
the  people  that  I  have  hitherto  described,  is  here  the  staple 
of  cultivation  ;  sorghum  in  most  districts  is  quite  unknown, 
and  maize  is  only  grown  in  inconsiderable  quantities. 

Here,  as  in  Abyssinia  (where  its  product  is  called  tocusso), 
eleusine  affords  a  material  for  a  very  palatable  beer.*  In 
the  Mohammedan  Soudan  the  inhabitants,  from  cold  fer- 
mented sorghum-dough,  extract  the  well-known  merissa ; 
and  by  first  warming  the  dough,  and  exercising  more 
care  and  patience  in  the  process,  is  made  the  bilbil  of  the 
Takareer ;  neither  of  these  beverages,  however,  to  our  palate 
would  be  much  superior  to  sour  pap :  even  the  booza  of 
Egypt,  made  though  it  is  from  wheat,  is  hardly  in  any 
respect  superior  in  quality.  But  the  drink  which  by  tlie 
Niam-niam  is  prepared  from  their  eleusine  is  really  capable, 
from  the  skill  with  which  it  is  manipulated,  of  laying  a 
fair  claim  to  be  known  as  heer.  It  is  quite  bright ;  it  is  of 
a  reddish-pale  brown  colour,  and  it  is  regularly  brewed  from 
the  malted  grain,  without  the  addition  of  any  extraneous 
ingredient;  it  has  a  pleasant,  bitter  flavour,  derived  from 
the  dark  husks,  which,,  if  they  were  mixed  in  their  natural 
condition  with  the  dough,  would  impart  a  twang  that 
would  be  exceedingly  unpalatable.  How  large  is  the  pro- 
portion of  beer  consumed  by  the  Niam-niam  may  be 
estimated  by  simply  observing  the  ordinary  way  in  which 
they  store  their  corn.  As  a  regular  rule,  there  are  three 
granaries  allotted  to  each  dwelling,  of  which  two  are  made 


*  The  brewing  of  beer  from  malted  eleusine  is  practised  in  many  of  the 
heathen  negro  countries;  and  in  South  Africa  the  Makalaka,  a  branch  of 
the  great  Bantoo  race,  are  said  to  devote  a  considerable  attention  to  it. 


14 


THE  HEART  OF  AFRICA. 


to  suffice  for  the  supply  which  is  to  contribute  the  meal 
necessary  for  the  household;  the  other  is  entirely  devoted 
to  the  grain  that  has  been  malted. 

Manioc,  sweet  potatoes,  yams,  and  colocasiae  are  cultivated 
with  little  trouble,  and  rarely  fail  to  yield  excellent  crops. 
Plantains  are  only  occasionally  seen  in  the  east,  and  from 
the  districts  in  which  I  travelled,  I  should  judge  that  they 
are  not  a  main  support  of  life  at  any  latitude  higher  than 
4°  N.  Sugar-canes  and  oil-palms  entirely  failed  in  this 
part  of  the  land,  but  I  was  informed  that  they  were  as 
plentiful  in  Keefa's  territory  as  they  are  among  the  IMon- 
buttoo. 


Clay  pipes  of  the  Niam-niani. 

All  the  Niam-niam  are  tobacco-smokers.  Their  name  for 
the  Nicotiana  tahacum  is  "  gundey,"  and  they  are  the  only 
people  of  the  Bahr-el-Ghazal  district  that  have  a  special 
designation  for  the  plant.  The  other  sort,  N.  rustica,  wliich, 
on  the  contrary,  has  a  local  appellation  in  nearly  every 
dialect  of  the   neighbouring  nations  (apparently   denoting 


NTAM-NIAM  DOGS. 


15 


that  the  plant  is  indigenous  to  Central  Africa)  is  utterly 
unknown  throughout  the  country.  The  people  smoke  from 
clay  pipes  of  peculiar  form,  consisting  of  elongated  bowls 
without  stems.  Like  other  negro  races  that  remain  un- 
tainted by  Islamisra,  they  abstain  from  ever  chewing  the 
tobacco. 


Niam-niam  Dog. 

In  broad  terms,  it  may  be  stated  that  no  cattle  at  all 
exists  in  the  land ;  the  only  domestic  animals  are  poultry  and 
dogs.  The  dogs  belong  to  a  small  breed  resembling  the  wolf- 
dog,  but  with  short  sleek  hair ;  they  have  ears  that  are  large 
and  always  erect,  and  a  short  curly  tail  like  that  of  a  young 
pig.  They  are  usually  of  a  bright  yellowish  tan  colour,  and 
very  often  have  a  white  stripe  upon  the  neck ;  their  lanky 


16  THE  HEART  OF  AFRICA. 

muzzle  projects  somewhat  abruptly  from  an  arched  fore- 
head ;  their  legs  are  short  aud  straight,  thus  demonstrating 
that  tlie  animals  have  nothing  in  common  with  the  terrier 
breed  depicted  upon  the  walls  of  Egyptian  temples,  and  of 
which  the  African  origin  has  never  been  proved.  Like  dogs 
generally  in  the  ISile  district,  they  are  deficient  in  the  dew- 
claws  of  the  hind-feet.  They  are  made  to  wear  little  wooden 
bells  round  their  necks,  so  that  they  should  not  be  lost  in 
the  long  steppe  grass.  After  the  pattern  of  their  masters 
they  are  inclined  to  be  corpulent,  and  this  propensity  is> 
encouraged  as  much  as  possible,  dogs'  flesh  being  esteemed 
one  of  the  choicest  delicacies  of  the  Niam-niam. 

Cows  and  goats  are  familiar  only  by  report,  although  it 
may  happen  occasionally  that  some  are  brought  in  as  the 
result  of  raids  that  have  been  perpetrated  upon  the  adjacent 
territories  of  the  Babuckur  and  the  Mittoo.  ■  There  would 
hardly  seem  to  be  any  specific  words  in  the  language  to 
denote  either  sheep,  donkeys,  horses,  or  camels,  which, 
according  to  common  conception,  would  all  come  very  much 
under  the  category  of  fabulous  animals. 

Although  the  Niam-niam  have  a  few  carefully-prepared 
dishes  of  which  they  partake,  in  a  general  way  they  exhibit 
as  little  nicety  or  choice  in  their  diet  as  is  shown  by  all 
the  tribes  (with  the  remarkable  exception  of  the  Dinka)  of 
the  Bahr-el-Ghazal  district.  The  most  palatable  mess  that  I 
found  amongst  them  was  composed  of  the  pulp  of  fresh 
maize,  ground  while  the  grain  is  still  soft  and  milky,  cleansed 
from  the  bran,  and  prepared  carefully  so  that  it  was  not 
burnt  to  the  bottom  of  the  pot.  The  mode  of  preparation  is 
rather  ingenious.  A  little  water  having  been  put  over  the 
fire  till  it  is  just  beginning  to  boil,  the  raw  meal,  which  has 
previously  been  rolled  into  small  lumps,  is  very  gently  shaken 
in,  and,  having  been  allowed  to  simmer  for  a  time,  the  whole 
is  finally  stirred  up  together. 

The  acme,  however,  of  all  earthly  enjoyments  would  seem 


EEPUTED  CANNIBALISM.  17 

to  be  meat.  "  Meat !  meat ! "  is  the  watchword  tliat  resounds 
in  all  their  campaigns.  In  certain  places  and  at  particular 
seasons  the  abundauce  of  game  is  very  large,  and  it  might 
readily  be  imagined  that  the  one  prevailing  and  permanent 
idea  of  this  people  would  be  how  to  chase  and  secure  their 
booty ;  but,  as  I  have  remarked  before,  there  is  no  greater 
evidence  of  the  real  difference  between  the  disposition  of 
nations  than  that  which  is  afforded  by  their  general  expression 
for  food.  As,  for  example,  the  Bongo  verb  "  to  eat "  is  "  mony," 
which  is  their  ordinary  designation  of  sorghum,  their  corn ; 
so  the  Niam-uiam  word  is  identical  with  "  pushyoh,"  which 
is  their  common  name  for  meed. 

Just  as  in  his  investigation  of  the  animal  and  vegetable 
kingdoms  the  naturalist  is  attracted  to  the  very  lowest 
organizations  because  they  contain  the  germs  of  the  higher 
and  more  complicated,  in  the  same  degree  does  the  interest 
of  the  traveller  centre  upon  the  simplest  development  of 
culture,  because  he  knows  that  it  is  the  embryo  of  the  most 
advanced  civilization. 

The  accuracy  of  the  report  of  the  cannibalism  which  has 
uniformly  been  attributed  to  the  Niam-niam  by  every  nation 
which  has  had  any  knowledge  at  all  of  their  existence, 
would  be  questioned  by  no  one  who  'had  a  fair  opportunity 
of  investigating  the  origin  of  my  collection  of  skulls.  To  a 
general  rule,  of  course,  there  may  be  exceptions  here  as 
elsewhere  ;  and  I  own  that  I  have  heard  of  other  travellers 
to  the  Niam-niam  lands  who  have  visited  the  territories  of 
Tombo  and  Bazimbey,  lying  to  the  west  of  my  route,  and 
who  have  returned  without  having  witnessed  any  proof  of 
the  practice.  Piaggia,  moreover,  resided  for  a  considerable 
time  in  those  very  districts,  and  yet  was  only  once  a  witness 
of  anything  of  the  kind  ;  and  that,  as  he  records,  was  upon  the 
occasion  of  a  campaign,  when  a  slaughtered  foe  was  devoured 
from  actual  bloodthirstiness  and  hatred.  From  my  own 
knowledge,   too,  I  can   mention   chiefs,   like   Wando,   who 


18  THE  HEART  OP  AFRICA. 

vehemently  repudiated  tlie  idea  of  eating  human  flesh,  al- 
though their  constant  engagement  in  war  furnished  them 
with  ample  opportunity  for  gratifying  their  taste  if  they 
desired.  But  still,  taking  all  things  into  account,  as  well 
what  I  heard  as  what  I  saw,  I  can  have  no  hesitation  in 
asserting  that  the  Niam-niam  are  anthropophagi ;  that 
they  make  no  secret  of  their  savage  craving,  but  osten- 
tatiously string  the  teeth  of  their  victims  around  their  necks, 
adorning  the  stakes  'erected  beside  their  dwellings  for  the 
exhibition  of  their  trophies  with  the  skulls  of  the  men  whom 
they  have  devoured.  Human  fat  is  universally  sold.  When 
eaten  in  considerable  quantity,  this  fat  is  presumed  to 
have  an  intoxicating  effect  ;  but  although  I  heard  this 
stated  as  a  fact  by  a  number  of  the  people,  I  never  could 
discover  the  foundation  upon  which  they  based  this  strange 
belief. 

In  times  of  war,  people  of  all  ages,  it  is  reported,  are  eaten 
up,  more  especially  the  aged,  as  forming  by  their  helpless- 
ness an  easier  prey  to  the  rapacity  of  a  conqueror ;  or  at 
any  time  should  any  lone  and  solitary  individual  die,  un- 
cared  for  and  unheeded  by  relatives,  he  would  be  sure  to  be 
devoured  in  the  very  district  in  which  he  lived.  In  short, 
all  who  witli  ourselves  would  be  consigned  to  the  knife  of 
the  anatomist  would  here  be  disposed  of  by  this  melancholy 
destiny. 

I  have  already  had  occasion  to  mention  how  the  Nubians 
asserted  that  they  knew  cases  in  which  Bongo  bearers  who 
had  died  from  fatigue  had  been  dug  out  from  the  graves  in 
which  they  had  been  buried,  and,  according  to  the  state- 
ments of  Niam-niam  themselves — who  did  not  disown  their 
cannibalism — there  were  no  bodies  rejected  as  unfit  for  food 
except  those  which  had  died  from  some  loathsome  cutaneous 
disease.  In  opposition  to  all  this,  I  feel  bound  to  record 
that  there  are  some  Niam-niam  who  turn  with  such  aversion 
from    any   consumption   of   human   flesh  that   they   would 


ANALOGY  WITH  THE  FAN.  19 

peremptorily  refuse  to  eat  out  of  the  same  dish  with  any 
one  who  was  a  cannibal.  The  Niam-niam  may  be  said  to  be 
generally  particular  at  their  meals,  and  when  several  are 
drinking  together  they  may  each  be  observed  to  wipe  the 
rim  of  the  drinking  vessel  before  passing  it  on, 

Of  late  years  our  knowledge  of  Central  Africa  has  been  in 
many  ways  enlarged,  and  various  well-authenticated  reports 
of  the  cannibalism  of  some  of  its  inhabitants  have  been 
circulated ;  but  no  explanation  which  can  be  offered  for  this 
unsolved  problem  of  psychology  (whether  it  be  considered  as 
a  vestige  of  heathen  worship,  or  whether  it  be  regarded  as 
a  resource  for  supplying  a  deficiency  of  animal  food)  can 
mitigate  the  horror  that  thrills  through  us  at  every  repe- 
tition of  the  account  of  the  hideous  and  revolting  custom. 
Among  all  the  nations  of  Africa  upon  whom  the  imputation 
of  this  odious  custom  notoriously  rests,  the  Fan,  who  dwell 
upon  the  equatorial  coasts  of  the  west,  have  the  repute  of 
being  the  greatest  rivals  of  the  Niam-niam.  Eye-witnesses 
agree  in  affirming  that  the  Fan  barter  their  dead  among 
themselves,  and  that  cases  have  been  known  where  corpses 
already  buried  have  been  disinterred  in  order  that  they 
might  be  deyoured.  According  to  their  own  accounts,  the 
Fan  migrated  from  the  north-east  to  the  western  coast.  In 
various  particulars  they  evidently  have  a  strong  affinity  with 
the  Niam-niam.  Both  nations  have  many  points  of  resem- 
blance in  dress  and  customs :  alike  they  file  their  teeth  to 
sharp  points ;  they  dress  themselves  in  a  material  made  from 
bark,  and  stain  their  bodies  with  red  wood ;  the  chiefs  wear 
leopard  skins  as  an  emblem  of  their  rank ;  and  all  the  people 
lavish  the  same  elaborate  care  upon  the  arrangement  of 
their  tresses.  The  complexion  of  the  Fan  is  of  the  same 
copper-brown  as  that  of  the  Niam-niam,  and  they  indulge 
in  similar  orgies  and  wild  dances  at  the  period  of  every 
full  moon;  they  moreover  pursue  the  same  restless  hunter 
life.     They  would  appear  to  be  the  same  of  whom  the  old 

YOL.  II.  — 3 


20 


THE  IIEAPtT  OF  AFPJCA. 


Portuguese  writers  have  spoken  under  the  name  of  "  Yagas," 
and  who  are  said,  at  the  beginning  of  the  seventeenth 
century,  to  have  laid  waste  the  kingdom  of  Loango. 

No  regular  towns  or  villages  exist  throughout  the  Niam- 
niam  country.  The  huts,  grouped  into  little  hamlets,  are 
scattered  about  the  cultivated  districts,  which  are  separated 
from  one  another  by  large  tracts  of  wilderness  many  miles  in 
extent.  The  residence  of  a  prince  differs  in  no  respect  from 
that  of  ordinary  subjects,  except  in  the  larger  number  of 

huts  provided  for  himself 
and  his  wives.  The  hareem 
collectively  is  called  a  "  bodi- 
moh."  * 

The  architecture  of  the 
eastern  Niara-niam  corre- 
sponds very  nearly  with  what 
may  be  seen  in  many  other 
parts  of  Central  Africa.  The 
conical  roofs  are  higher  and 
more  pointed  than  those  of 
the  Bongo  and  Dinka,  having 
a  projection  beyond  the  clay 
walls  of  the  hut,  which  affords 
a  good  shelter  from  the  rain. 
This  projection  is  supported 
by  posts,  which  give  the  whole 
building  the  semblance  of 
being  surrounded  by  a  veran- 
dah. The  huts  that  are  used 
for  cooking  have  roofs  still 
more  pointed  than  those  which  serve  for  sleeping.  Other 
little  huts,  with  bell-shaped  roofs,  erected  in  a  goblet-shape 
upon  a  substructure  of  clay,  and  furnished  with  only  one 


Niam-niam  Gr.inary. 


-■'  "Boilimob,"  in  the  Zandey  dialect,  has  ako  the  miauinj;  of  ''papyrus. 


KEVENUE  OF  THE  CHIEFTAINS. 


21 


small  aperture,  are  called  "  bamogee,"  and  are  set  apart,  as 
being  secure  from  the  attacks  of  wild  beasts,  for  sleeping- 
places  of  the  boys,  as  soon 
as  they  are  of  an  age  to 
be  separated  from  the 
adults. 

Every  sovereign  prince 
bears  the  title  of  "  Bya," 
which  is  pronounced  very- 
much  like  the  French 
word  hien.  His  power  is 
limited  to  the  calling  to- 
gether of  the  men  who  are 
capable  of  bearing  arms, 
to  the  execution  in  person 
of  those  condemned  to 
death,  and  to  determining 
whether  there  shall  be 
peace  or  war.  Except  the 
ivory  and  the  moiety  of  elephant's  flesh,  he  enjoys  no  other 
revenue ;  for  his  means  of  subsistence  he  depends  upon  his 
farms,  which  are  worked  either  by  his  slaves  or  more 
generally  by  his  numerous  wives.  Towards  the  west,  where 
a  flourishing  slave-trade  is  driven  to  the  cost  of  the  oppressed 
inhabitants  wlio  are  not  true  Zandey,  a  portion  of  the  tribute 
is  raised  by  a  conscription  of  young  girls  and  boys,  a  part  of 
the  purchase-money  paid  by  the  Darfoor  traders  to  the  chief 
being  handed  over  to  the  parents  who  are  thus  robbed  of 
their  children. 

Although  a  Niam-niam  chieftain  disdains  external  pomp 
and  repudiates  any  ostentatious  display,  his  authority  in  one 
respect  is  quite  supreme.  Without  his  orders  no  one  would 
for  a  moment  entertain  a  thought  either  of  opening  war  or 
concluding  peace.  The  defiant  imperious  bearing  of  the 
chiefs  alone  constitutes  their  outward  dignity,  and  there  are 


Bamogee  :  or  hut  for  the  boys. 


.  22  THE  HEART  OF  AFRICA. 

some  who  in  majestic  deportment  and  gesture  might  vie 
with  any  })otentate  of  the  earth.  The  dread  with  which  they 
inspire  their  subjects  is  incredible:  it  is  said  that  for  the 
l)Ui-pose  of  exhibiting  their  power  over  life  and  death  they 
will  occasionally  feign  fits  of  passion,  and  that,  singling 
out  a  victim  from  the  crowd,  they  will  throw  a  rope  about 
his  neck,  and  with  their  own  hands  cut  his  throat  with  one 
stroke  of  their  jagged  scimitar.  This  species  of  African 
"  Caesarism  "  vividly  recalls  the  last  days  of  Theodore,  King 
of  Abyssinia. 

The  eldest  son  of  a  chief  is  considered  to  be  the  heir  to 
his  title  and  dignity,  all  the  other  sons  being  entrusted  with 
the  command  of  the  fighting  forces  in  separate  districts, 
and  generally  being  assigned  a  certain  share  of  the  hunting 
booty.  At  the  death  of  a  chief,  however,  the  firstborn  is 
frequently  not  acknowledged  by  all  his  brothers;  some  of 
them  perchance  will  support  him,  whilst  others  will  insist 
upon  their  right  to  become  independent  rulers  in  the  districts 
where  they  have  been  acting  as  "  behnky."  Contentions  of 
this  character  are  continually  giving  rise  to  every  kind 
of  aggression  and  repeated  deeds  of  violence.* 

Notwithstanding  the  general  warlike  spirit  displayed  by 
the  Niam-niam,  it  is  a  very  singular  fact  that  the  chieftains 
very  rarely  lead  their  own  people  into  actual  engagement, 
but  are  accustomed,  in  anxious  suspense,  to  linger  about  the 
environs  of  the  "  mbanga,"  ready,  in  the  event  of  tidings  of 
defeat,  to  decamp  with  their  wives  and  treasures  into  the 
most  inaccessible  swamps,  or  to  betake  themselves  for  con- 
cealment to  the  long  grass  of  the  steppes.  In  the  heat  of 
combat  each  discharge  of  lances  is  accompanied  by  the 
loudest  and  wildest  of  battle-cries,  eveiy  man  as  he  hurls  his 


*  Of  the  thirty-five  chieftains  who  rule  over  these  48.000  square  miles  of 
territory,  comparatively  few  in  any  way  merit  the  designation  of  king.  The 
most  powerful  are  Kanna  and  Mofio,  whote  donanions  are  in  extent  equal  to 
iibout  a  dozen  of  the  others. 


EMBLEMS  OF  WAR.  2?. 

weapon  shouting  aloud  the  name  of  his  chief.  In  the  inter- 
vals between  successive  attacks  the  combatants  retire  to  a 
safe  distance,  and  mounting  any  eminence  that  may  present 
itself,  or  climbing  to  the  summit  of  the  hills  of  the  white 
ants,  which  sometimes  rise  to  a  height  of  12  or  15  feet,  they 
proceed  to  assail  their  adversaries,  for  the  hour  together, 
in  the  most  ludicrous  manner,  with  every  invective  and 
every  epithet  of  contempt  and  defiance  they  can  command. 
During  the  few  days  that  we  were  obliged  to  defend  our- 
selves by  an  abattis  against  the  attacks  of  the  natives  in 
Wando's  southern  territory,  we  had  ample  opportunity  of 
hearing  these  accumulated  opprobriums.  We  could  hear 
them  vow  that  the  "  Turks  "  should  perish,  and  declare  that 
not  one  of  them  should  quit  the  country  alive ;  and  then  we 
recognised  the  repeated  shout,  "To  tlie  caldron  with  the 
Turks !  "  rising  to  the  eager  climax,  "  Meat !  meat !  "  It 
was  emphatically  announced  that  there  was  no  intention  to 
do  any  injury  to  the  white  man,  because  he  was  a  stranger 
and  a  new-comer  to  the  land  ;  but  I  need  hardly  say  that, 
under  the  circumstances,  I  felt  little  inclination  to  throw 
myself  upon  their  mercy. 

It  is  in  a  measure  anticipating  the  order  of  events,  but 
I  may  here  allude  to  the  remarkable  symbolism  by  which 
war  was  declared  against  us  on  the  frontiers  of  Wando's 
territory  when  we  were  upon  our  return  journey.  Close  on 
the  path,  and  in  full  view  of  every  passenger,  three  objects 
were  suspended  from  the  branch  of  a  tree,  viz.  an  ear  of 
maize,  the  feather  of  a  fowl,  and  an  arrow.  The  sight  seemed 
to  recall  the  defiant  message  sent  to  the  great  King  of 
Persia,  when  he  would  penetrate  to  the  heart  of  Scythia. 
Our  guides  readily  comprehended,  and  as  readily  explained, 
the  meaning  of  the  emblems,  which  were  designed  to  signifv 
that  whoever  touched  an  ear  of  maize  or  laid  his  grasp  upon 
a  single  fowl  would  assuredly  be  the  victim  of  the  arrow. 
Without  waiting,  however,  for  any  depredations  on  our  part, 


24  THE  HEART  OF  AFKICA. 

the  Niam-niam,  with  tlie  basest  treachery,  attacked  us  on 
the  following  day. 

In  hunting,  the  Niam-niam  employ  very  much  the  same 
contrivances  of  traps,  pits,  and  snares  as  the  Bongo;  but 
their  haftues  for  securing  the  larger  animals  are  conducted 
both  more  systematically  and  on  a  more  extensive  scale. 

In  close  proximity  to  each  separate  group  of  hamlets,  and 
more  frequently  than  not  at  the  threshold  of  the  abodes  of 
the  local  chieftains  known  as  the  "  borrumbanga,"  or  "  chief 
court,"  there  is  always  a  huge  wooden  kettledrum,  made  of 
a  hollow  stem  mounted  upon  four  feet.  The  sides  of  this 
are  of  unequal  thickness,  so  that  when  the  drum  is  struck  it 
is  capable  of  giving  two  perfectly  distinct  sounds.  According 
to  the  mode  or  time  in  which  these  sounds  are  rendered, 
three  different  signals  are  denoted,  the  first  being  the  signal 
for  war,  another  that  for  hunting,  and  the  third  a  summons 
to  a  festival.  Sounded  originally  in  the  mbanga  of  the 
chief,  these  signals  are  in  a  few  minutes  repeated  on  the 
kettledrums  of  the  "borrumbangas"  of  the  district,  and  in 
an  incredibly  short  space  of  time  some  thousands  of  men, 
armed  if  need  be,  are  gathered  together. 

Perhaps  the  most  frequent  occasions  on  which  these 
assemblages  are  made  ai'ise  from  some  elephants  having 
been  seen  in  the  adjacent  country.  As  soon  as  the  force  is 
collected,  the  elephants  are  driven  towards  some  tracts  of 
dense  grass  that  have  been  purposely  spared  from  the  steppe 
burning.  Provided  with  firebrands,  the  crowd  surrounds 
the  spot;  the  conflagration  soon  extends  on  all  sides,  until 
the  poor  brutes,  choked  and  scorched,  fall  a  helpless  prey 
to  their  destroyers,  who  despatch  them  with  their  lances. 
Since  not  only  the  males,  with  their  large  and  valuable 
tusks,  but  the  females  also  with  the  young,  are  included  in 
this  wholesale  and  indiscriminate  slaughter,  it  may  easily  be 
imagined  how  year  by  year  the  noble  animal  is  fast  being 
exterminated.     The'  avarice  of  the  chiefs,  ever  desirous  of 


NIAM-NIAM  HANDICRAFT.  25 

copper,  and  the  greediness  of  the  people,  ever  anxious  for 
flesh,  make  them  all  alike  eager  for  the  chase.  I  constantly 
saw  the  natives  returning  to  their  huts  with  a  large  bundle 
of  what  at  first  I  imagined  was  firewood,  but  which  in  reality 
was  their  share  of  elepliant-meat,  which  after  being  cut  into 
strips  and  dried  over  a  fire  had  all  the  appearance  of  a 
log  of  wood. 

The  thickets  along  the  river-banks  abound  in  many  kinds 
of  wild  fowl,  which  the  natives  catch  by  means  of  snares. 
The  most  common  are  guinea-fowl  and  francolins,  which 
are  caught  by  a  bait  that  is  rather  unusual  in  other  places. 
Instead  of  scattering  common  corn  in  the  neighbourhood  of 
the  traps,  the  people  make  use  of  fragments  of  a  flesh v 
Stapelia.  This  little  succulent  grows  on  the  dry  parts  of 
the  steppe,  and  is  frequently  found  about  the  white  ant- 
hills; it  is  likewise  naturalised  in  Arabia  and  Xubia,  and  in 
a  raw  condition  is  sometimes  eaten  as  human  food.  Birds 
are  very  fond  of  it,  and  so  approved  is  it  as  a  bait  that  I  not 
unfrequently  found  it  growing  beside  tlie  huts,  where  it  was 
planted  for  this  particular  purpose. 

Tlie  handicraft  of  the  Niam-niam  exhibits  itself  chiefly  in 
ironwork,  pottery,  wood  carving,  domestic  architecture,  and 
basket-work ;  of  leather-dressing  they  know  no  more  than 
others  in  this  part  of  Central  Africa.  Their  earthenware 
vessels  may  be  described  as  of  blameless  symmetry.  They 
make  water-flasks  of  an  enormous  size,  and  manufacture 
pretty  little  drinking-cups.  They  lavish  extraordinary  care 
on  the  embellishment  of  their  tobacco-pipes,  but  they  have 
no  idea  of  the  method  of  giving  their  clay  a  proper  con- 
sistency by  washing  out  the  particles  of  mica  and  by 
adding  a  small  quantity  of  sand.  From  the  soft  wood  of 
several  of  the  Eubiacese  they  carve  stools  and  benches,  and 
produce  great  dishes  and  bowls,  of  wliicli  the  stems  and 
pedestals  are  very  diversified  in  pattern.  I  saw  specimens 
of  these  wliieh  were  admirable  works  of  ait,  and  the  designs 


26 


THE  HEART  OF  AFIHCA. 


15. 
Niam-niam  handicraft. 


1.  WoodPii  signal  drum. 
2  and  3.  Jlandolins. 
4.  Bedstead. 
6.  Iron  bell. 


6.  Carved  head  for  the  neck  of    ]     9, 10, 11,12,13.  Wooden  dishes. 

a  mandolin.  14.  Mungala-board. 

1.  Carved  signal-pipe.  !     15.  Wooden  stool. 

8.  Wooden  doc;-bell. 


GREETINGS.  27 

of  which  were  so  complicated  that  they  must  have  cost  the 
inventor  considerable  thought. 

As  every  Niam-niam  soldier  carries  a  lance,  trumbash, 
and  dagger,  the  manufacture  of  these  weapons  necessarily 
employs  a  large  number  of  smiths,  who  vie  with  each  other 
in  producing  the  greatest  variety  of  form.  The  dagger  is 
worn  in  a  sheath  of  skin  attached  to  the  girdle.  The  lance- 
tips  differ  from  those  of  the  Bongo  in  having  a  hastate  shape, 
to  use  once  more  the  botanical  term  which  distinguishes  the 
folia  liastata  from  the  folia  lanceolata.  Every  weapon  bears 
so  decidedly  the  stamp  of  its  nationality  that  its  origin  is 
discoverable  at  a  glance.  All  the  lances,  knives,  and  dagger- 
blades  are  distinguished  by  blood-grooves,  which  are  not  to 
be  observed  upon  the  corresponding  weapons  of  either  the 
Bongo  or  Dyoor. 

Mutual  greetings  among  the  Niam-niam  may  be  said  to 
be  almost  stereotyped  in  phrase.  Any  one  meeting  another 
on  the  way  would  be  sure  to  say  "  rnuiyette ;"  but  if  they 
were  indoors,  they  would  salute  each  other  by  saying  "  mooke- 
note "  or  "  mookenow."  Their  expression  for  farewell  is 
"  minahpatiroh ;"  and  when,  under  any  suspicious  circum- 
stances, they  wish  to  give  assurance  of  a  friendly  intention, 
they  make  use  of  the  expression  "  badya,  badya,  muie " 
(friend,  good  friend,  come  hither).  They  always  extend 
their  right  hands  on  meeting,  and  join  them  in  such  a  way 
that  the  two  middle  fingers  crack  again ;  and  while  they  are 
shaking  hands  they  nod  at  each  other  with  a  strange  move- 
ment, which  to  our  Western  ideas  looks  like  a  gesture  of 
repulse.  The  women,  ever  retiring  in  their  habits,  are  not 
accustomed  to  be  greeted  on  the  road  by  any  with  whom 
they  are  not  previously  intimate. 

No  wooing  in  this  country  is  dependent,  as  elsewhere  in 
Africa,  upon  a  payment  exacted  from  the  suitor  by  the 
father  of  the  intended  bride.  When  a  man  resolves  upon 
matrimony,  the  ordinary  rule  would  be  for  him  to  apply  to 


28  THE  HEART  OF  AFRICA. 

the  reigning  prince,  or  to  tbe  sub-chieftain,  who  would  at 
once  endeavour  to  procure  him  such  a  wife  as  might  appear 
suitable.  In  spite  of  the  prosaic  and  matter-of-fact  pro- 
ceeding, and  notwithstanding  the  unlimited  polygamy  which 
prevails  throughout  the  land,  the  marriage-bond  loses  no- 
thing of  the  sacredness  of  its  liabilities,  and  unfaithfulness 
]s  generally  punished  with  immediate  death.  A  family  of 
children  is  reckoned  as  the  best  evidence  and  seal  of  con- 
jugal affection,  and  to  be  the  mother  of  many  children  is 
always  recognised  as  a  claim  to  distinction  and  honour.  It 
is  one  of  the  fine  traits  of  this  people  that  they  exhibit 
a  deep  and  consistent  affection  for  their  wives,  and  I  shall 
have  occasion  in  a  future  chapter  to  refer  to  some  touching 
instances  of  this  feature  in  their  character. 

The  festivities  that  are  observed  on  the  occasion  of  a 
marriage  are  on  a  verj'  limited  scale.  There  is  a  simple 
procession  of  the  bride,  who  is  conducted  to  the  home  of 
her  future  lord  by  the  chieftain,  accompanied  by  musicians, 
minstrels,  and  jesters.*  A  feast  ensues,  at  which  all  partake 
in  common,  although,  as  a  general  rule,  the  women  ai'e 
accustomed  to  eat  alone  in  their  own  huts.  The  domestic 
duties  of  a  housewife  consist  mainly  in  cultivating  the  home- 
stead, preparing  the  daily  meals,  painting  her  husband's 
body,  and  dressing  his  hair.  In  this  genial  climate  children 
require  comparatively  little  care  or  attention,  infants  being 
carried  about  everywhere  in  a  kind  of  band  or  scarf. 

The  Niam-niam  have  one  recreation  which  is  common  to 
nearly  the  whole  of  Africa.  A  game,  known  by  the  Nubians 
as  "  mungala,"  is  constantly  played  by  all  the  people  of  the 
entire  Gazelle  districts,  and  although  perhaps  it  is  not  known 
by  the  Monbuttoo,  it  is  quite  naturalised  among  all  the 
negroes  as  far  as  the  West  Coast.     It  is  sinsrular  that  this 


*  Among  the  Kaffirs  tlie  ceremony  of  conducting  a  bride  to  her  new  home  is 
observed  with  mucli  formality. 


GAME  OF  MUNGALA.  29 

pastime  should  be  so  familiar  to  the  Mohammedan  Nubians, 
who  only  within  the  last  twenty  years  have  had  any  inter- 
course at  all  with  the  negroes  of  the  south ;  but  in  all  likeli- 
hood they  received  it  in  the  same  way  as  the  guitar,*  as  a 
legacy  from  their  original  home  in  Central  Africa.  The 
Peulhs  devote  many  successive  hours  to  the  amusement, 
which  requires  a  considerable  facility  in  ready  reckoning ; 
they  call  it  "  wuri."  The  game  is  played  likewise  by  the 
Foolahs,  the  Yolofs,  and  the  Mandingo,  on  the  Senegal.  It 
is  found  again  among  the  Kadje,  between  the  Tsad  and  the 
Benwe.  The  recurrence  of  an  object  even  trivial  as  this 
is  an  evidence,  in  its  degree,  indirect  and  collateral,  of  the 
essential  unity  that  underlies  all  African  nations. 

The  "  muugala  "  itself  f  is  a  long  piece  of  wood,  in  which 
two  parallel  rows  of  holes  are  scooped  out.  Nubian  boards 
have  sixteen  holes,  the  Niam-niam  have  eighteen.  Each  player 
has  about  two  dozen  stones,  and  the  skill  of  the  game  consists 
in  adroitly  transferring  the  stones  from  one  hole  to  another. 
In  default  of  a  board  the  game  is  frequently  played  upon  the 
bare  ground,  in  which  little  cavities  are  made  for  the  purpose. 
Having  thus  detailed  their  warlike  demeanour,  their  do- 
mestic industry,  and  their  common  pastime,  I  would  not 
omit  to  mention  that  the  Niam-niam  are  no  strangers  to 
enjoyments  of  a  more  refined  and  ideal  character  than  battles 
and  elephant-hunts.  They  have  an  instinctive  love  of  art. 
Music  rejoices  their  very  soul.  The  harmonies  they  elicit 
from  their  favourite  instrument,  the  mandolin,  seem  almost  to 
thrill  through  the  chords  of  their  inmost  nature.  The  pro- 
longed duration  of  some  of  their  musical  productions  is  very 
surprising.  Piaggia,  before  me,  has  remarked  that  he  be- 
lieved a  Niam-niam  would  go  on  playing  all  day  and  all 
night,  without  thinking  to  leave  off  either  to  eat  or  to  drink ; 


*  Vide  vol.  i.  chap.  ix. 

t  A  mungala  board  iri  represented  in  Fig.  14  of  the  plate  illustrating  Niam- 
niam  handicraft. 


30  THE  HEART  OF  AFRICA. 

and  although  I  am  quite  aware  of  the  voracious  propeu si- 
ties  of  the  people,  I  am  half-inclined  to  believe  that  Piaggia 
was  right. 

One  favourite  instrument  there  is,  which  is  something 
between  a  harp  and  a  mandolin.  It  resembles  the  former  in 
the  vertical  arrangement  of  its  strings,  whilst  in  common 
with  the  mandolin  it  has  a  sounding-board,  a  neck,  and 
screws  for  tightening  the  strings.  The  sounding-board  is 
constructed  on  strict  acoustic  principles.  It  has  two  aper- 
tures ;  it  is  carved  out  of  wood,  and  on  the  upper  side  is 
covered  by  a  piece  of  skin ;  the  strings  are  tightly  stretched 
by  means  of  pegs,  and  are  sometimes  made  of  fine  threads 
of  bast,  and  sometimes  of  the  wiry  hairs  from  the  tail  . 
of  the  giraffe.  The  music  is  very  monotonous,  and  it  is 
very  difficult  to  distinguish  any  actual  melody  in  it.  It 
invariably  is  an  accompaniment  to  a  moaning  kind  of  re- 
citative, which  is  rendered  with  a  decided  nasal  intonation. 
I  have  not  mifrequently  seen  friends  marching  about  arm-in- 
arm, wrapt  in  the  mutual  enjoyment  of  their  performance, 
and  beating  time  to  every  note  by  nodding  their  heads. 

There  is  a  singular  class  of  professional  musicians,  who 
make  their  appearance  decked  out  in  the  most  fantastic  way 
with  feathers,  and  covered  with  a  promiscuous  array  of  bits 
of  wood  and  roots  and  all  the  pretentious  emblems  of 
magical  art,  the  feet  of  earth-pigs,  the  shells  of  tortoises,  the 
beaks  of  eagles,  the  claws  of  birds,  and  teeth  in  every  variety. 
Whenever  one  of  this  fraternity  presents  himself,  he  at  once 
begins  to  recite  all  the  details  of  his  travels  and  experiences 
in  an  emphatic  recitative,  and  never  forgets  to  conclude  by 
an  appeal  to  the  liberality  of  his  audience,  and  to  remind 
them  that  he  looks  for  a  reward  either  of  rings  of  copper  or 
of  beads.  Under  minor  differences  of  aspect,  these  men  may 
be  found  nearly  everywhere  in  Africa.  Baker  and  some 
other  travellers  have  dignified  them  with  the  romantic  name 
of  "  minne-singers,"  but  the  designation  of  "  hashash  "  (buf- 


ZANDEY  DIALECT.  31 

foons)  bestowed  upon  them  by  the  Arabs  of  the  Soudan 
would  more  fairly  describe  their  true  character.  The  Niam- 
uiam  themselves  exhibit  the  despicable  light  in  which  they 
regard  them  by  calling  them  "  nzangah,"  *  which  is  the 
same  term  as  that  by  which  they  designate  those  abandoned 
women  who  pollute  Africa  no  less  than  every  civilized  country. 

The  language  of  the  Niam-niam  (or,  to  speak  more  pro- 
perly, the  Zandey  dialect),  as  entirely  as  any  of  the  dialects 
which  prevail  throughout  the  Bahr-el-Ghazal  district,  is  an 
upshoot  from  the  great  root  which  is  the  original  of  every 
tongue  in  Africa  north  of  the  equator,  and  is  especially  allied 
to  the  Nubio-Lybian  group.  Although  the  pronunciation  is 
upon  the  whole  marked  and  distinct,  there  are  still  certain 
sounds  which  are  subject  to  a  considerable  modification,  even 
when  uttered  by  the  same  individual.  The  nasal  tone  which 
is  given  to  the  open  sounds  of  a  and  e  as  they  rise  from  the 
throat  fix  a  character  upon  tlie  articulation  that  is  quite 
distinct  from  that  of  the  i-5ongo,  and  altogether  the  dialect  is 
poorer  in  etymological  construction,  being  deficient  in  any 
separate  tenses  for  the  verbs;  it  is,  moreover,  far  less 
vocalised,  and  has  a  cumbrousness  which  arises  from  the 
preponderance  of  its  consonants. 

The  language  is  undoubtedly  very  wanting  in  expressions 
for  abstract  ideas.  For  the  Divinity  I  found  that  many 
interpreters  would  employ  the  word  "  gumbah,"  which  signi- 
fies "lightning,"  whilst,  in  contrast  with  this,  other  inter- 
preters would  make  use  of  the  term  "  bongbottumu ;"  but 
I  imagine  that  this  latter  expression  is  only  a  kind  of  a  peri- 
phrasis of  the  Mohammedan  "rasool"  (a  prophet,  or  messenger 
of  God),  because  "mbottumu"  is  their  ordinary  term  by 
which  they  would  designate  any  common  messenger  or  envoy. 


*  In  Loango  all  exorcists  and  conjurors  are  called  "gauga,"  an  appella- 
tion which  would  nppear  to  have  the  same  derivation  as  this  Zaudey  word 
••  nzangah."  The  "  Griots  "  in  Seuegambia  are  held  in  the  same  contempt  as 
the  Niam-niam  minstrels. 


32  THE  HEART  OF  AFRICA. 

Although  none  of  the  natives  of  the  Gazelle  district  may 
be  credited  with  the  faintest  conception  of  true  religion,  tlie 
Niam-niam  have  an  expression  of  their  own  for  "  prayer " 
as  an  act  of  worship,  such  as  they  see  it  practised  by  th«^ 
Mohammedans.  This  word  is  "  borru."  When,  however,  the 
expression  is  examined,  it  is  found  really  to  relate  to  the 
auf>-ury  which  it  is  the  habit  of  the  people  to  consult  before 
they  enter  upon  any  important  undertaking. 

The  augury  to  which  I  have  thus  been  led  to  refer  is 
consulted  in  the  following  way.  From  the  wood  of  the 
Sarcocephalus  Bussegeri,  which  they  call  "  damma,"  a  little 
four-legged  stool  is  made,  like  the  benches  used  by  the 
women.  The  upper  surface  of  this  is  rendered  perfectly 
smooth.  A  block  of  wood  of  the  same  kind  is  then  cut,  of 
which  one  end  is  also  made  quite  smooth.  After  having 
wetted  the  top  of  the  stool  with  a  drop  or  two  of  water,  they 
grasp  the  block  and  rub  its  smooth  part  backwards  and 
forwards  over  the  level  surface  with  the  same  motion  as  if 
they  were  using  a  plane.  If  the  wood  should  glide  easily 
along,  the  conclusion  is  drawn  that  the  undertaking  in 
question  will  assuredly  prosper ;  but  if,  on  the  other  hand, 
the  motion  is  obstructed  and  the  surfaces  adhere  together — 
if,  according  to  the  Niam-niam  expression,  a  score  of  men 
could  not  give  free,  movement  to  the  block — the  warning  is 
unmistakable  that  the  adventure  will  prove  a  failure. 

Now,  since  they  also  use  this  term  "  borru  "  to  describe 
.the  prayers  of  the  Mohammedans,  there  seems  some  reason- 
able evidence  for  supposing  that  they  actually  regard  this 
rubbing  as  akin  to  a  form  of  w^orship.  As  often  as  I  asked 
any  of  the  Niam-niam  what  they  called  prayers,  they  in- 
variably replied  by  referring  to  this  practice  and  by  making 
the  gesture  which  I  compare  to  working  with  a  plane.  This 
praying-macthine  is  concealed  as  carefully  as  may  be  from 
the  eyes  of  the  Mohammedans.  It  was,  however,  frequently 
resorted  to  during  tlie  subsequent  brief  period  of  warfare, 


NIAM-NIAM  AUGURIES.  33 

whea  my  own  Niam-niam  attendants  diligently  consulted 
the  oracle,  and,  as  the  result  was  uniformly  satisfactory,  it 
contributed  not  a  little  to  confirm  their  confidence  in  my 
reputation  for  good  luck. 

There  are  other  ordeals  common  to  the  Niam-niam  with 
various  negro  nations,  and  which  are  considered  as  of  equal 
or  still  greater  importance.  An  oily  fluid,  concocted  from  a 
red  wood  called  "  bengye,"  is  administered  to  a  hen.  If  the 
bird  dies,  there  will  be  misfortune  in  war ;  if  the  bird  sur- 
vives, there  will  be  victory.  Another  mode  of  trying  their 
fortune  consists  in  seizing  a  cock,  and  ducking  its  head 
repeatedly  under  water  until  the  creature  is  stiff  and 
senseless.  They  then  leave  it  to  itself.  If  it  should 
rally,  they  draw  an  omen  that  is  favourable  to  their 
design;  whilst  if  it  should  succumb,  they  look  for  an  ad- 
verse issue. 

A  Niam-niam  could  hardly  be  induced  to  go  to  war 
without  first  consulting  the  auguries,  and  his  reliance  upon 
their  revelations  is  very  complete.  For  instance,  Wando, 
our  inveterate  antagonist,  although  he  had  succeeded  in 
rousing  two  districts  to  open  enmity  against  us,  yet  personally 
abstained  from  attacking  our  caravan,  and  that  for  no  other 
reason  than  that  his  fowl  had  died  after  swallowing  the 
"  bengye "  that  had  been  administered.  We  awaited  his 
threatened  attack,  and  were  full  of  surprise  that  he  did  not 
appear.  Shortly  afterwards, "we  were  informed  that  he  had 
withdrawn  in  fear  and  trembling  to  an  inaccessible  retreat 
in  the  wilderness.  Our  relief  was  considerable.  It  might 
have  fared  very  badly  with  us,  as  all  our  magazines  were 
established  on  his  route ;  but,  happily,  he  had  gone,  and  the 
Niam-niam  with  whom  we  were  brought  in  contact  stoutly 
maintained  that  it  was  the  death  of  his  fowl  alone  which  had 
deterred  him  from  an  assault  and  had  rescued  us  from  entire 
destruction. 

These  au2;uries  are  consulted  likewise  in  order  to  ascertain 


34  THE  HEART  OF  AFRICA. 

the  guilt  or  innocence  of  any  that  are  accused,  and  suspected 
witches  are  tried  by  the  same  ordeal. 

The  same  belief  in  evil  spirits  and  goblins  which  prevails 
among  the  Bongo  and  other  people  of  Central  Africa  is 
found  here.  Tlie  forest  is  uniformly  supposed  to  be  the 
abode  of  the  hostile  agencies,  and  the  rustling  of  the  foliage 
is  imagined  to  be  their  mysterious  dialogue.  Superstition, 
like  natural  religion,  is  a  child  of  the  soil,  and  germinating 
like  the  flowers  of  the  field  it  unfolds  its  inmost  secrets. 
Beneath  the  dull  leaden  skies  of  the  distant  North  there  are 
believed  to  be  structures  haunted  by  ghosts  and  spectres. 
Here  the  forest,  with  its  tenantry  of  owls  and  bats,  is  held  to 
be  the  abode  of  malignant  spirits ;  whilst  betwixt  both  are 
the  Oriental  nations,  who,  without  forests,  and  exposed  to  the 
full  strength  of  a  blazing  sun,  fear  nothing  so  much  as  "  the 
evil  eye."  Truly  it  may  be  averred  that  the  development  of 
superstition  is  dependent  upon  geographical  position. 

In  thus  recapitulating  the  general  characteristics  of  the 
Niam-niam,  this  chapter  necessarily  has  exhibited  some 
measure  of  repetition.  I  will  proceed  to  conclude  it,  in  the 
same  manner  as  the  record  of  the  Bongo,  by  a  few  remarks 
upon  the  customs  of  this  people  with  regard  to  their  dead. 

Whenever  a  Niam-niam  has  lost  any  very  near  relative 
the  first  token  of  his  bereavement  is  shown  by  his  shaving 
his  head.  His  elaborate  coiffure — that  which  had  been  his 
pride  and  his  delight,  the  labour  of  devoted  conjugal  hands — 
is  all  ruthlessly  destroyed,  the  tufts,  the  braids,  the  tresses 
being  scattered  far  and  wide  about  the  roads  in  the  recesses 
of  the  wilderness. 

A  corpse  is  ordinarily  adorned,  as  if  for  a  festival,  with 
skins  and  feathers.  It  is  usually  dyed  with  red  wood.  Men 
of  rank,  aiter  being  attired  with  their  common  aprons,  are 
interred  either  sitting  on  their  benches,  or  are  enclosed  in  a 
kind  of  coffin,  which  is  made  from  a  hollow  tree. 

According  to  the  prescriptions  of  the  law  of  Islam,  the 


NIAM-NIAM  GRAVES.  35 

earth  is  not  thrown  upon  the  corpse,  which  is  placed  in  a 
cavity  that  has  been  partitioned  off  at  the  side  of  the  grave. 
This  is  a  practice  mentioned  before,  and  which  is  followed  in 
many  heathen  parts  of  Africa. 

Like  the  Bongo,  the  Niam-niam  bury  their  dead  with  a 
scrupulous  regard  to  the  points  of  the  compass ;  but  it  is 
remarkable  that  they  reverse  the  rule,  the  men  in  their 
sepulture  being  deposited  with  their  faces  towards  the  east, 
the  women  towards  the  west. 

A  grave  is  covered  in  with  clay,  which  is  thoroughly 
stamped  down.  Over  the  spot  a  hut  is  erected,  in  no  respect 
differing  externally  from  the  huts  of  the  living,  and  being 
equally  perishable  in  its  construction,  it  very  soon  either 
rots  away  through  neglect  or  is  destroyed  in  the  annual 
conflagration  of  the  steppe-burning. 

Vol.  II.— 4 


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THE  HEART  OF  AFRICA. 


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CHAPTER   XIV. 

Mohammed's  friendship  for  Munza.  Invitation  to  an  audience.  Solemn 
escort  to  the  royal  halls.  Waiting  for  the  King.  Architecture  of  the  halls. 
Grand  display  of  ornamental  weapons.  Fantastic  attire  of  the  sovereign. 
Features  and  expression.  Stolid  composure.  Offering  gifts.  Toilette  of 
Munza's  -wives.  The  king's  mode  of  smoking.  Use  of  the  cola-nut. 
Musical  performances.  Court  fool.  Court  eunuch.  Munza's  oration. 
Monbuttoo  hymn.  Munza's  gratitude.  A  present  of  a  house.  Curiosity 
of  natives.  Skull-market.  Niam-niam  envoys.  Fair  complexion  of  natives. 
Visit  from  Munza's  wives.  Triumphal  procession.  A  bath  under  sur- 
veillance. Discovery  of  the  sword-bean.  Munza's  castle  and  private  apart- 
ments. Reserve  on  geographical  subjects.  Non-existence  of  Piaggia's 
lake.  My  dog  exchanged  for  a  pygmy.  Goats  of  the  Momvoo.  Extract 
of  meat.  Khartoomers' stations  in  Monbuttoo  country.  Mohammed's  plan 
for  proceeding  southwards.  Temptation  to  penetrate  farther  towards 
interior.  Money  and  good  fortune.  Great  festival.  Caisar  dances. 
Munza's  visits.    The  Guinea-hog.    My  washing-tub, 

MuNZA  was  impatiently  awaiting  the  arrival  of  the  Khar- 
toomers. His  storehouses  were  piled  to  the  full  with  ivory, 
the  hunting  booty  of  an  entire  year,  which  he  was  eager  to 
exchange  for  the  produce  of  the  north  or  to  see  replaced  by 
new  supplies  of  the  red  ringing  metal  which  should  flow 
into  his  treasury. 

This  was  Mohammed's  third  visit  to  the  country,  and  not 
only  interested  motives  prompted  the  king  to  receive  him 
warmly,  but  real  attachment ;  for  the  two  had  mutually  pledged 
their  friendship  in  their  blood,  and  called  each  other  by  the 
name  of  brother.  During  his  absence  in  Khartoom,  Mohammed 
had  entrusted  the  command  of  the  expedition  of  the  previous 
year  to  his  brother  Abd-el-fetah,  a  Mussulman  of  the  purest 
water  and  a  hypocritical  fanatic,  who  had  greatly  offended 


y-A  tf-^  #~ft  *^  O 


38  THE  HEART  OF  AFRICA. 

the  king  by  his  arrogance  and  unsympathetic  reserve.  He 
considered  himself  defiled  by  contact  with  a  "  Kaffir,"  and 
would  not  allow  a  nigger  to  approach  within  ten  steps  of  his 
person ;  he  refused  to  acknowledge  either  African  king  or 
prince,  and  always  designated  the  ladies  of  the  court  as 
slaves.  But  Mohammed  was  entirely  different.  By  all  the 
natives  he  was  known  by  his  unassuming  title  of  "  Mbahly," 
i.e.,  the  little  one,  and  in  all  his  dealings  with  them  he  was 
urbanity  itself.  He  won  every  heart  by  adopting  the  national 
costume,  and  attired  in  his  native  rokko-coat  and  scarlet 
plume,  he  would  sit  for  hours  together  over  the  brimming 
beer-flasks  by  the  side  of  his  royal  confrere,  recounting  to 
him  all  the  wonders  of  the  world  and  twitting  him  with  his 
cannibal  propensities.  No  wonder  then  that  Munza's  daily 
question  to  Mohammed's  people  had  been :  "  When  will 
Mbahly  come  ?"  and  no  wonder  that,  as  we  were  preparing  to 
cross  the  great  river,  his  envoys  had  met  us  with  a  cordial 
greeting  for  his  friend.  Nor  was  the  attachment  all  on 
Mnnza's  side.  Immediately  on  our  arrival,  Mohammed, 
leaving  the  organization  of  our  encampment  entirely  to  the 
discretion  of  his  lieutenants,  had  gathered  up  his  store  of 
presents,  and  hastened  to  convey  them  to  the  king.  The 
greater  part  of  these  offerings  consisted  of  huge  copper 
dishes,  not  destined,  however,  in  this  remote  comer  of  the 
globe  to  be  relegated  to  the  kitchen,  jjut  to  be  employed  for 
the  far  more  dignified  office  of  furnishing  music  for  the  royal 
halls.  The  interview  was  long,  and  our  large  encampment 
was  complete  and  night  was  rapidly  approaching  before 
Mohammed  returned  to  his  quarters.  He  came  accompanied 
by  the  triumphal  strain  of  horns  and  kettle-drums,  and 
attended  by  thousands  of  natives  bearing  the  ample  store  of 
provisions  which,  at  the  king's  commands,  had  been  instantly 
forthcoming.  He  announced  that  I  was  invited  to  an  audience 
of  the  king  on  the  following  morning,  and  that  a  state  re- 
ception was  to  be  prepared  in  honour  of  my  visit.     It  need 


SUMMONS  TO  THE  KING.  39 

hardly  be  said  that  it  was  with  feelings  of  wonder  and 
curiosity  that  I  lay  down  that  night  to  rest. 

The  22nd  of  March,  1870,  was  the  memorable  date  on 
which  my  introduction  to  the  king  occurred.  Long  before  I 
was  stirring,  Mohammed  had  once  more  betaken  himself  to 
the  royal  quarters.  On  leaving  my  tent,  my  attention  was 
immediately  attracted  to  the  opposite  slopes,  and  a  glance  at 
the  wide  space  between  the  king's  palace  and  the  houses  of 
his  retinue  was  suflScient  to  assure  me  that  unusual  animation 
prevailed.  Crowds  of  swarthy  negroes  were  surging  to  and 
fro ;  others  were  hurrying  along  in  groups,  and  ever  and  anon 
the  wild  tones  of  the  kettle-drum  could  be  heard  even  where 
I  was  standing.  Munza  was  assembling  his  courtiers  and 
inspecting  his  elephant-hunters,  whilst  from  far  and  near 
streamed  in  the  heads  of  households  to  open  the  ivory- 
mart  with  Mohammed,  and  to  negotiate  with  him  for  the 
supply  of  his  provisions. 

Somewhat  impatiently  I  stood  awaiting  my  summons  to 
the  king,  but  it  was  already  noon  before  I  was  informed  that 
all  arrangements  were  complete,  and  that  I  was  at  liberty  to 
start.  Mohammed's  black  body-guard  was  sent  to  escort  me, 
and  his  trumpeters  had  orders  to  usher  me  into  the  royal 
presence  with  a  flourish  of  the  Turkish  reveille.  For  the 
occasion  I  had  donned  a  solemn  suit  of  black.  I  wore  my 
unfamiliar  cloth-coat,  and  laced  up  the  heavy  Alpine  boots, 
that  should  give  importance  to  the  movements  of  my  light 
figure ;  watch  and  chain  were  left  behind,  that  no  metal 
ornament  might  be  worn  about  my  person.  With  all  the 
solemnity  I  could  1  marched  along  ;  three  black  squires  bore 
my  rifles  and  revolver,  followed  by  a  fourth  with  my  inevitable 
cane-chair.  Next  in  order,  and  in  awestruck  silence,  came 
my  Nubian  servants,  clad  in  festive  garments  of  unspotted 
whiteness,  and  bearing  in  their  hand  the  offerings  that  liad 
been  so  long  and  carefully  reserved  for  his  Monbuttoo 
majesty. 


40  THE  HEAET  OF  AFRICA. 

It  took  us  half  an  hour  to  reach  the  royal  residence.  The 
path  descended  in  a  gentle  slope  to  the  wooded  depression  of 
the  brook,  then  twisted  itself  for  a  time  amid  the  thickets  of 
the  valley,  and  finally  once  more  ascended,  through  extensive 
plantain-groves,  to  the  open  court  that  was  bounded  by  a 
wide  semicircle  of  motley  dwellings.  On  arrival  at  the  low 
parts  of  the  valley  we  found  the  swampy  jungle-path  bestrewn 
with  the  stems  of  fresh-hewn  trees  and  a  bridge  of  the  same 
thrown  across  the  water  itself.  The  king  could  hardly  have 
been  expected  to  suggest  such  peculiar  attention  of  his  own 
accord,  but  this  provisionary  arrangement  for  keeping  my 
feet  dry  was  made  in  compliance  with  a  kindly  hint  from 
Mohammed,  who,  knowing  the  nature  of  my  boots,  and  the 
time  expended  in  taking  them  off  and  on,  had  thus  thought- 
fully insured  my  ease  and  comfort;  moreover,  these  boots 
were  unique  in  the  African  world,  and  must  be  preserved 
from  mud  and  moisture.  Unfortunately  all  these  arrange- 
ments tended  to  confirm  the  Monbuttoo  in  one  or  other  of 
their  infatuated  convictions,  either  that  my  feet  were  like 
goats'  hoofs,  or,  according  to  another  version,  that  the  firm 
leather  covering  was  itself  an  integral  part  of  my  body.  The 
idea  of  goats'  feet  had  probably  arisen  from  the  comparison 
of  my  hair  and  that  of  a  goat ;  and  doubtless  the  stubborn- 
ness with  which  I  always  refused  to  uncover  my  feet  for 
their  inspection  strengthened  them  in  their  suspicion. 

As  we  approached  the  huts,  the  drums  and  trumpets  were 
sounded  to  their  fullest  powers,  and  the  crowds  of  people 
pressing  forward  on  either  hand  left  but  a  narrow  passage  for 
our  procession.  We  bent  our  steps  to  one  of  the  largest 
huts,  which  formed  a  kind  of  palatial  hall  open  like  a  shed 
at  both  ends.  Waiting  my  arrival  here  was  one  of  the 
officers  of  state,  who,  1  presume,  was  the  master  of  the 
ceremonies,  as  I  afterwards  observed  him  presiding  over  the 
general  festivities.  This  official  took  me  by  the  right  hand, 
And  without  a  word  conducted  me  to  the  interior  of  the  hall. 


WAITING  FOR  THE  KING.  41 

Here,  like  the  audience  at  a  concert,  were  arranged  according 
to  their  rank  hundreds  of  nobles  and  courtiers,  each  occupy- 
ing his  own  ornamental  bench  and  decked  out  with  all  his 
war  equipments.  At  the  other  end  of  the  building  a  space 
was  left  for  the  royal  throne,  which  differed  in  no  respect 
from  the  other  benches,  except  that  it  stood  upon  an  out- 
spread mat ;  behind  this  bench  was  placed  a  large  support 
of  singular  construction,  resting  as  it  seemed  upon  three  legs, 
and  furnished  with  projections  that  served  as  props  for  the 
back  and  arms  of  the  sitter :  this  support  was  thickly  studded 
with  copper  rings  and  nails.  I  requested  that  my  own  chair 
might  be  placed  at  a  few  paces  from  the  royal  bench,  and 
there  I  took  up  my  position  with  my  people  standing  or 
squatting  behind  me,  and  the  Nubian  soldiers  forming  a 
guard  around.  The  greater  number  of  the  soldiers  had  their 
guns,  but  my  black  squires,  who  had  never  before  been 
brought  face  to  face  with  so  mighty  a  potentate,  subsequently 
confessed  to  me  that  their  hearts  beat  fast,  and  that  they 
could  not  help  trembling  to  think  how  a  sign  from  Munza 
could  have  brought  all  our  limbs  to  the  spit. 

For  a  considerable  time  I  had  to  sit  waiting  in  expectation 
before  the  empty  throne.  My  servants  informed  me  that 
Munza  had  attended  the  market  in  his  ordinary  costume,  but 
that  he  had  been  seen  to  hasten  home  to  his  private  apart- 
ments, where  he  was  now  imdergoing  a  process  of  anointing, 
frizzling,  and  bedizening  at  the  hands  of  his  wives,  in  order 
that  he  should  appear  before  me  in  the  imposing  splendour  of 
his  state  attire.  I  had  thus  no  other  alternative  than  patiently 
to  abide  my  time ;  for  what  could  be  more  flattering  to  a  foreign 
guest  than  for  a  king  to  receive  him  in  his  costliest  toilet  ? 

In  the  interval  of  waiting  there  seemed  a  continuous  up- 
roar. The  fitful  beating  of  kettle-drums  and  the  perpetual 
braying  of  horns  resounded  through  the  airy  building  until 
it  shook  again,  and  mingling  with  the  boisterous  strains  rose 
the  voices  of  the  assembled   courtiers  as  they  whiled  away 


42  THE  HEART  OF  AFRICA. 

the  time  in  loud  and  eager  conversation.  There  was  no  doubt 
that  I  was  myself  the  main  cause  of  their  excitement ;  for 
although  I  sat  with  my  back  to  the  majority,  I  could  not  be 
otherwise  than  quite  aware  that  all  eyes  were  intently  fixed 
upon  me.  All,  however,  kept  their  seats  at  a  respectful 
distance,  so  that  I  could  calmly  look  about  me  and  note  down 
my  observations  of  what  I  saw. 

The  hall  itself  was  the  chief  object  that  attracted  my  atten- 
tion. It  was  at  least  a  hundred  feet  in  length,  forty  feet  high, 
;ind  fifty  broad.  It  had  been  quite  recently  completed,  and 
the  fresh  bright  look  of  the  materials  gave  it  an  enlivening 
aspect,  the  natural  brown  polish  of  the  wood-work  looking  as 
though  it  were  gleaming  with  the  lustre  of  new"  varnish. 
Close  by  was  a  second  and  more  spacious  hall,  which  in 
height  was  only  surpassed  by  the  loftiest  of  the  surrounding 
oil-palms ;  but  this,  although  it  had  only  been  erected  five 
years  previously,  had  already  begun  to  show  symptoms  of 
decay,  and  being  enclosed  on  all  sides  was  dark,  and  there- 
fore less  adapted  for  the  gathering  at  a  public  spectacle. 
Considering  the  part  of  Africa  in  which  these  halls  were 
Ibund,  one  might  truly  be  justified  in  calling  them  wondert? 
of  the  world ;  I  hardly  know  with  all  our  building  resources 
what  material  we  could  have  employed,  except  it  were  whale- 
bone, of  sufficient  lightness  and  durability  to  erect  structures 
like  these  royal  halls  of  Munza,  capable  of  withstanding  the 
tropical  storms  and  hurricanes.  The  bold  arch  of  the  vaulted 
roof  was  supported  on  three  long  rows  of  pillars  formed  from 
perfectly  straight  tree-stems  ;  the  countless  spars  and  rafters 
as  well  as  the  other  parts  of  the  building  being  composed 
entirely  of  the  leaf-stalks  of  the  wine-palm  {Raphia  vinifera)* 
The  floor  was  covered  with  a  dark  red  clay  plaster,  as  firm 


*  This  palm  is  found  in  every  bank-forest  in  the  Moubuttoo  country,  ami 
ita  leaves  vary  from  25  to  35  feet  in  length:  the  midrib  of  the  leaf  (rhachis) 
is  of  a  bright  brown  colour,  and  furnishes  the  mo^t  popular  building  material 
throughout  Central  Africa. 


THE  ROYAL  APPROACH.  43 

and  smooth  as  asphalt.  The  sides  were  enclosed  by  a  low 
breastwork,  and  the  space  between  this  and  the  arching  roof, 
which  at  the  sides  sloped  nearly  to  the  ground,  allowed  light 
and  air  to  pass  into  the  building.  Outside  against  the 
breastwork  stood  crowds  of  natives,  probably  the*  "great 
unwashed"  of  the  Monbuttoo,  who  were  unable  to  obtain 
places  within,  and  contented  themselves  with  eagerly  gazing 
through  this  opening  at  the  proceedings.  Officials  with  long 
sticks  went  their  rounds  and  kept  order  among  the  mob, 
making  free  use  of  their  sticks  whenever  it  was  necessary ; 
all  boys  who  ventured  uninvited  into  the  hall  being  vigor- 
ously beaten  back  as  trespassers. 

I  had  probably  been  left  for  an  hour,  and  was  getting  lost 
in  the  contemplation  of  all  the  wonders,  when  a  louder  sound 
of  voices  and  an  increasing  clang  of  horns  and  kettle-drums 
led  me  to  suppose  that  there  was  an  announcement  of  the 
approach  of  the  king  ;  but,  no,  this  was  only  a  prelude.  The 
sovereign  was  still  being  painted  and  beautified  by  the  hands 
of  his  fair  ones.  There  was,  however,  a  fresh  and  increasing 
commotion  near  the  entrance  of  the  hall,  where  a  number  of 
ornamental  weapons  was  being  arranged.  Posts  were  driven 
into  the  ground,  and  long  poles  were  fastened  horizontally 
across  them  ;  then  against  this  extemporized  scaffolding  were 
laid,  or  supported  crosswise,  hundreds  of  ornamental  lances 
and  spears,  all  of  pure  copper,  and  of  every  variety  of  form 
and  shape.  The  gleam  of  the  red  metal  caught  the  rays  of 
the  tropical  noontide  sun,  and  in  the  symmetry  of  their 
arrangement  the  rows  of  dazzling  lance-heads  shone  with  the 
o-low  of  flaming  torches,  making  a  backgroimd  to  the  royal 
throne  that  was  really  magnificent.  The  display  of  wealth, 
which  according  to  Central  African  tradition  was  incalculable, 
was  truly  regal,  and  surpassed  anything  of  the  kind  that  I 
liad  conceived  possible. 

A  little  longer  and  the  weapons  are  all  arranged.  The 
expected  king  has  left  bis  home.     There  is  a  running  to  and 


44.  THE  HEART  OF  AFRICA. 

fro  of  heralds,  marshals,  and  police.  The  thronging  masses 
flock  towards  the  entrance,  and  silence  is  proclaimed.  The 
kin"-  is  close  at  hand.  Then  come  the  trumpeters  flourishing 
away  on  their  huge  ivory  horns ;  then  the  ringers  swinging 
their  cumbrous  iron  bells ;  and  now,  with  a  long  firm  stride, 
looking  neither  to  the  right  nor  to  the  left,  wild,  romantic, 
picturesque  alike  in  mien  and  in  attire,  comes  the  tawny 
Caesar  himself!  He  was  followed  by  a  number  of  his 
favoured  wives.  Without  vouchsafing  me  a  glance,  he  flung 
himself  upon  his  unpretending  chair  of  state,  and  sat  with 
his  eyes  fixed  upon  his  feet.  Mohammed  had  joined  the 
retinue  of  his  royal  friend,  and  took  up  his  position  opposite 
me  on  the  other  side  of  the  king  on  a  stool  that  was  brought 
for  his  accommodation.  He  also  had  arrayed  himself  in  a 
suitable  dress  in  honour  of  the  occasion,  and  now  sat  in  the 
imposing  uniform  of  a  commander  of  Arnauts. 

I  could  now  feast  my  eyes  upon  the  fantastic  figure  of  the 
ruler.  I  was  intensely  interested  in  gazing  at  the  strange 
weird-looking  sovereign,  of  whom  it  was  commonly  reported 
that  his  daily  food  was  human  flesh.  With  arms  and  legs/ 
neck  and  breast,  all  bedizened  with  copper  rings,  chains,  and 
other  strange  devices,  and  with  a  great  copper  crescent  at 
the  top  of  his  head,  the  potentate  gleamed  with  a  shimmer 
that  was  to  our  ideas  unworthy  of  royalty,  but  savoured  far 
too  much  of  the  magazines  of  civic  opulence,  reminding  one 
almost  unavoidably  of  a  well-kept  kitchen  !  His  appearance, 
however,  was  decidedly  marked  with  his  nationality,  for  ever)' 
adornment  that  he  had  about  him  belonged  exclusively  to 
Central  Africa,  as  none  but  the  fabrications  of  his  native  land 
are  deemed  worthy  of  adorning  the  person  of  a  king  of  the 
Monbuttoo. 

Agreeably  to  the  national  fashion  a  plumed  hat  rested  on 
the  top  of  his  chignon,  and  soared  a  foot  and  a  half  above  his 
head ;  this  hat  was  a  narrow  cylinder  of  closely-plaited  reeds  ; 
it  was  ornamented  with  three  layers  of  red  parrots'  feathers, 


THE  ROYAL  COSTUME.  45 

and  crowned  with  a  plume  of  the  same  ;  there  was  no  brim, 
but  the  copper  crescent  projected  from  the  front  like  the 
vizor  of  a  Norman  helmet.     The  muscles  of  Munza's  ears 
were  pierced,  and  copper  bars  as  thick  as  the  finger  inserted 
in  the  cavities.     The  entire  body  was  smeared  with  the  native 
unguent  of  powdered  cam-wood,  which  converted  the  original 
bright  brown  tint  of  his  skin   into  the   colour  that  is  so 
conspicuous  in  ancient  Pompeian  halls.     With  the  exception 
of  being  of  an  unusually  fine  texture,  his  single  garment 
differed  in  no  respect  from  what  was  worn  throughout  the 
country ;  it  consisted  of  a  large  piece  of  fig  bark  impregnated 
with   the   same   dye  that  served  as  his  cosmetic,  and  this, 
falling  in  graceful  folds  about  his  body,  formed  breeches  and 
waistcoat  all  in  one.     Eound  thongs  of  buffalo-hide,  with 
heavy  copper  balls-  attached  to  the  ends,  were  fastened  round 
the  waist  in  a  huge  knot,  and  like  a  girdle  held  the  coat, 
which  was  neatly-hemmed.     The  material  of  the  coat  was  so 
carefully  manipulated  that  it  had  quite  the  appearance  of  a 
rich  Tuoire  antique.     Around  the  king's  neck  hung  a  copper 
ornament  made  in  little  points  which  radiated  like  beams  all 
over  his  chest ;  on  his  bare  arms  were  strange-looking  pen- 
dants which  in  shape  could  only  be  compared  to  drumsticks 
with  rings  at  the  end.     Halfway  up  the  lower  part  of  the 
arms  and  just  below  the  knee  were  three  bright,  horny-look- 
ing circlets  cut  out  of  hippopotamus-hide,  likewise  tipped 
with  copper.     As  a  symbol  of  his  dignity  Munza  wielded  in 
his  right   hand   the   sickle-shaped    Monbuttoo  scimitar,  in 
this  case   only  an  ornamental  weapon,  and  made  of  pure 
copper. 

As  soon  as  the  king  had  taken  his  seat,  two  little  tables, 
beautifully  carved,,  were  placed  on  either  side  of  his  throne, 
and  on  these  stood  the  dainties  of  which  he  continually  par- 
took, but  which  were  carefully  concealed  by  napkins  of  fip- 
bark  ;  in  addition  to  these  tables,  some  really  artistic  flasks 
of  porous  clay  were  brought  in,  full  of  drinking  water. 


46  THE  HEART  OF  AFKICA. 

Such  was  Miinza,  the  autocrat  of  the  Monbuttoo,  with 
whom  I  was  now  brought  face  to  face.  He  appeared 
as  the  type  of  those  half-mythical  potentates,  a  species 
of  Mwata  Yanvo  or  Great  Makoko,  whose  names  alone 
have  penetrated  to  Europe,  a  truly  savage  monarch,  without 
a  trace  of  anything  European  or  Oriental  in  his  attire, 
and  with  nothing  fictitious  or  borrowed  to  be  attributed  to 
him. 

He  was  a  man  of  about  forty  years  of  age,  of  a  fair 
height,  of  a  slim  but  powerful  build,  and,  like  the  rest  of  his 
cojintrymen,  stiff  and  erect  in  figure.  Although  belonging 
to  a  type  by  no  means  uncomely,  his  features  were  far  from 
prepossessing,  but  had  a  Nero-like  expression  that  told  of 
ennui  and  satiety.  He  had  small  whiskers  and  a  tolerably 
thick  beard ;  his  profile  was  almost  orthognatic,  but  the 
perfectly  Caucasian  nose  offered  a  remarkable  contrast  to 
the  thick  and  protruding  negro  lips.  In  his  eyes  gleamed 
the  wild  light  of  animal  sensuality,  and  around  his  mouth 
lurked  an  expression  that  I  never  saw  in  any  other  Mon- 
buttoo, a  combination  of  avarice,  violence,  and  love  of  cruelty 
that  could  with  the  extremest  difficulty  relax  into  a  smile. 
No  spark  of  love  or  affection  could  beam  forth  from  such 
features  as  his. 

A  considerable  time  elapsed  before  the  king  looked 
directly  at  the  pale-faced  man  with  the  long  hair  and  the 
tight  black  clothes  who  now  for  the  first  time  appeared 
before  him.  I  held  my  hat  in  my  hand,  but  no  greeting  had 
as  yet  taken  place,  for,  observing  that  everyone  kept  his  seat 
when  the  king  entered  the  hall,  I  had  done  the  same,  and 
now  waited  for  him  to  address  me.  The  wild  uproar  of  the 
cannibals  still  continued,  and  Munza,  sitting  in  a  careless 
attitude,  only  raised  his  eyes  now  and  then  from  their  fixed 
stare  upon  the  ground  as  though  to  scan  the  whole  assem- 
blage, but  in  reality  to  take  stray  glances  at  my  person,  and 
in  this  way,  little  by  little,  lie  satisfied  his  curiosity.    I  could 


THE  ROYAL  EECEPTION.  47 

not  help  marvelling  at  the  composure  of  this  wild  African, 
and  wondering  where  in  the  world  he  could  have  learnt  his 
dignity  and  self-possession.    . 

At  length  the  monarch  began  to  ask  me  some  questions. 
They  were  fluently  translated  into  the  Zandey  dialect  by 
the  chief  interpreter,  who  always  played  a  principal  part  in 
our  intercourse  with  the  natives.  The  Niam-niam  in  their 
turn  i^ndered  the  sense  to  me  in  Arabic.  The  conversation, 
however,  was  of  the  most  commonplace  character,  and  re- 
ferred neither  to  the  purpose  of  my  coming  nor  to  the 
country  from  which  I  came.  Munza's  interr6gations  brought 
to  my  mind  the  rough  reception  afforded  to  Keinhold 
Forster,  the  companion  of  the  renowned  Captain  Cook, 
by  Frederick  the  Great,  who  bluntly  asked  him  if  he  had 
ever  seen  a  king  ?  "  Yes,  your  Majesty,"  was  the  answer, 
"  several ;  two  tame  and  three  savage."  Munza  appeared 
extremely  anxious  to  keep  lip  to  an  Oriental  measure  the 
principle  of  nil  admirari ;  nothing  could  disturb  his  com- 
posure, and  even  at  my  subsequent  visits,  where  there  was 
no  state  ceremonial,  he  maintained  a  taciturnity  nearly  as 
resolute. 

My  servants  now  brought  forth  the  presents  I  had  brought 
and  spread  them  at  the  king's  feet.  These  consisted,  in  the 
first  place,  of  a  piece  of  black  cloth,  a  telescope,  a  silver 
platter,  and  a  porcelain  vase ;  the  silver  was  taken  for  white 
iron,  and  the  porcelain  for  carved  ivory.  The  next  gift  was 
a  real  piece  of  carved  ivory,  brought  as  a  specimen  to  show 
the  way  in  which  the  material  is  employed ;  there  was  a 
book  with  gilt  edges,  a  gift  which  could  not  fail  to  recall  to 
my  mind  the  scene  in  which  Speke  describes  Kamrasi's 
first  lesson  in  the  Bible ;  then  came  a  double  mirror,  that 
both  magnified  and  reduced  what  it  reflected;  and  last, 
though  by  no  means  least,  was  a  large  assortment  of  beads  of 
Venetian  glass,  including  thirty  necklaces,  composed  of  thirty 
distinct  pieces,  so  that  Munza  was  in  possession  of  more  than 


48  THE  HEART  OF  AFRICA. 

a  tliousand  separate  beads.*  The  universal  principle  fol- 
lowed by  the  Nubians  forbade  that  any  presents  of  firearms 
should  be  made  to  native  rulers.  Munza  regarded  all  these 
offerings  with  great  attention,  but  without  committing  him- 
self to  any  audible  expression  of  approval.  Not  so  his  fifty 
wives,  who  were  seated  on  stools  arranged  behind  his  throne ; 
they  gave  frequent  half-suppressed  utterances  of  surprise, 
and  the  double  mirror  was  passed  admiringly  from  hand  to 
hand,  its  contortions  eliciting  shouts  of  delight. 

There  were  fifty  of  these  ladies  present :  they  were  only 
the  most  intimate,  or  wives  of  the  first  rank,  the  entire 
number  of  court  ladies  being  far  larger.  Except  in  the 
greater  elegance  of  their  attire,  they  departed  in  no  way 
from  the  fashion  of  the  country,  the  description  of  which 
must  be  deferred  for  the  present. 

After  a  time  Munza  turned  his  attention  to  his  refresh- 
ments. As  far  as  1  could  distinguish  them,  they  consisted  of 
lumps  of  plantain-meal  and  tapioca  piled  on  leaves,  of  dried 
plantains,  and  of  a  fruit  which  to  my  surprise  I  immediately 
recognised  as  the  cola-nut  of  the  west.  From  this  rosy- 
shelled  kernel  the  king  cut  a  few  slices,  and  chewed  them 
in  the  intervals  of  smoking  his  tobacco.  His  pipe,  in  the 
shape  of  an  iron  stem  six  feet  long,  was  handed  to  him  by  a 
ehibbukchak,  who  was  in  attendance  for  that  purpose.  Very 
remarkable  was  the  way  in  which  Munza  smoked.  To  bring 
himself  into  the  correct  position  he  threw  himself  far  back 
in  his  seat,  supported  his  right  elbow  on  the  arm-rest,  put 
one  leg  across  the  other,  and  with  his  left  hand  received  the 
pipe-stem.  In  this  attitude  he  gravely  took  one  long  inhala- 
tion, then,  with  a  haughty  gesture,  resigned  his  pipe  to  the 


*  I  hatl  obtained  these  little  works  of  art  from  my  Venetian  friend  Miani, 
to  whom  they  bad  been  presented  some  years  previously  by  his  fellow-citizens, 
when  he  was  preparing  to  undertake  a  new  expedition.  The  enterprise  had 
failed  from  no  other  cause  than  from  the  jealousy  shown  by  the  Egyptian 
Government. 


THE  ROYAL  ENTERTAINMENT.  49 

hands  of  his  attendant  and  allowed  the  smoke  slowly  to  re- 
issue from  his  mouth.  It  is  a  habit  among  Turks  of  rank  to 
smoke  thus  by  taking  only  two  or  three  inhalations  from  a 
pipe  handed  to  them  by  their  servants ;  but  where,  again,  may 
I  ask,  could  tliis  cannibal  prince  have  learnt  such  a  custom  ? 

To  my  request  for  a  cola-nut  the  king  responded  by 
graciously  passing  me  a  specimen  with  his  own  hand. 
Turning  to  Mohammed,  I  expressed  my  surprise  at  behold- 
ing this  fruit  of  the  far  west  amongst  the  Monbuttoo ;  I  told 
him  of  its  high  value*  as  a  spice  in  Bornoo,  where  it  is 
worth  its  weight  in  silver,  and  I  went  on  to  say  that  it 
confirmed  my  impression  that  the  Welle  was  identical  with 
the  river  of  Baghirmy,  called  the  Shary,  and  that  this  nut 
accordingly  came  to  me  like  a  key  to  a  problem  that  I  was 
seeking  to  solve.  Then  again  addressing  Munza,  I  made 
him  understand  that  I  knew  the  fruit,  and  pointing  in  the 
direction  of  Lake  Tsad,  I  told  him  that  there  it  was  eaten 
by  the  great  people  of  tlie  country.  I  hoped  in  this  way  to 
induce  him  to  give  me  some  information  on  the  subject; 
but  he  had  made  up  his  mind  to  be  astonished  at  nothing, 
nor  could  I  ever  even  on  future  occasions  draw  him  into 
a  geographical  discussion.  All  that  I  could  learn  was  that 
the  cola-nut  grew  wild  in  the  country,  and  that  it  was  called 
*'  nangweh  "  by  the  natives,  who  were  accustomed  to  chew  it 
in  the  intervals  of  their  smoking. 

The  performances  that  had  been  prepared  for  our  enter- 
tainment now  commenced.  First  of  all  a  couple  of  horn- 
blowers  stepped  forward,  and  proceeded  to  execute  solos 
upon  their  instruments.  These  men  were  advanced  pro- 
ficients in  their  art,  and  brought  forth  sounds  of  such  power, 
compass,  and  flexibility  tliat  they  could  be  modulated  from 
sounds  like  the  roar  of  a  hungry  lion,  or  the  trumpeting  of 


*  According  to  Liebig  the  cola-nut  contains  more  cofFeiue  than  the  most 
potent  coffee  berries. 


60  THE  HEART  OF  AFRICA. 

an  infuriated  elephant,  down  to  tones  which  might  be 
compared  to  the  sighing  of  the  breeze  or  to  a  lover's  whisper. 
One  of  them,  whose  ivory  horn  was  so  huge  that  he  could 
scarcely  hold  it  in  a  horizontal  position,  executed  rapid 
passages  and  shakes  with  as  much  neatness  and  decision  as 
though  he  were  performing  on  a  flute. 

Next  appeared  a  number  of  professional  singers  and 
jesters,  and  amongst  them  a  little  plump  fellow,  who  acted 
the  part  of  a  pantomime  clown,  and  jumj)ed  about  and 
turned  somersaults  till  his  limbs  looked  like  the  arms  of  a 
windmill ;  he  was  covered  from  head  to  foot  with  bushy  tufts 
and  pigtails,  and  altogether  his  appearance  was  so  excessiveh- 
ludicrous  that,  to  the  inward  delight  of  the  king,  I  burst  into  a 
hearty  fit  of  laughter.  I  called  him  a  court  fool,  and  in  many 
respects  he  fully  deserved  the  title.  I  hardly  know  why  the 
Nubians  should  have  drawn  my  attention,  as  though  to 
something  quite  new,  to  the  wooden  Monbuttoo  scimitar  that 
he  wore  in  his  girdle.  His  jokes  and  pranks  seemed  never- 
ending,  and  he  was  permitted  to  take  liberties  with  every 
one,  not  excepting  even  Munza  himself;  and  amongst  other 
tricks  he  would  approach  the  king  with  his  right  hand 
extended,  and  just  as  Munza  had  got  hold  of  it,  would  start 
backwards  and  make  off  with  a  bound.  A  short  time  before 
he  appeared,  some  freshly  baked  ears  of  maize,  the  first  of 
the  season,  had  been  laid  before  me;  of  this  delicacy  the 
fool,  with  the  most  comical  gestures,  made  me  comprehend 
that  he  wished  to  partake ;  I  therefore  took  up  some  detached 
grains,  and  threw  them,  one  by  one,  into  his  open  mouth ; 
he  caught  them  with  a  snap,  and  devoured  them  with  such 
comical  grimaces,  that  the  performance  called  forth  a  roar 
of  applause  from  the  whole  assembly. 

The  next  episode  consisted  of  the  performances  of  a 
eunuch,  who  formed  a  butt  for  the  wit  of  the  spectators. 
How  Munza  had  come  into  possession  of  this  creature,  no  one 
seemed  to  know,  and  I  could  only  learn  that  he  was  employed 


THE  ROYAL  ORATION.  51 

in  the  inner  parts  of  the  palace.  He  was  a  fat  grotesque- 
looking  figure,  and  when  he  sang  looked  exactly  like  a 
grunting  baboon ;  to  add  to  the  oddity  of  his  appearance, 
Munza,  as  though  in  mockery  of  his  Nubian  guests,  had  had 
him  arrayed  in  a  red  fez,  and  thus  he  was  the  only  one  in  all 
the  immense  concourse  of  natives  who  had  anything  foreign 
in  his  attire. 

But  the  most  important  part  of  the  programme  was 
reserved  for  the  end :  Munza  was  to  make  an  oration.  AVhilst 
all  the  audience  remained  quietly  seated  on  their  stools  and 
benches,  up  jumped  the  king,  loosened  his  coat,  cleared  his 
throat,  and  commenced  his  harangue.  Of  course  I  could 
not  understand  a  single  word,  and  a  double  interpretation 
would  have  been  worse  tlian  useless :  but,  from  what  I  could 
see  and  hear,  it  was  evident  that  Munza  endeavoured  to  be 
choice  and  emphatic  in  his  language,  as  not  only  did  he 
often  correct  himself,  but  he  made  pauses  after  the  sentences 
that  he  intended  to  be  impressive,  to  allow  for  the  applause 
of  his  auditors.  Then  the  shout  of  "  Ee,  ee,  tchupy,  tchupy, 
ee,  Munza,  ee,"  resounded  from  every  throat,  and  the  musical 
instruments  caught  up  the  strain,  until  the  uproar  was  truly 
demoniacal.  Several  times  after  this  chorus,  and  as  if  to 
stimulate  the  tumult,  Munza  uttered  a  stentorian  "  brrr  -  - "  * 
with  a  voice  so  sonorous  that  the  very  roof  vibrated,  and  the 
swallows  fled  in  terror  from  their  nests  in  the  eaves. 

The  kettle-drums  and  horns  now  struck  up  a  livelier  and 
more  rhythmical  strain,  and  IMunza  assumed  a  new  character 
and  proceeded  to  beat  time  with  all  the  solemnity  of  a 
conductor.  His  hdton  was  something  like  a  baby's  rattle, 
and  consisted  of  a  hollow  sphere  of  basket-work  filled  with 
pebbles  and  shells,  and  attached  to  a  stick.j 

*  It  may  interest  the  reader  to  learii  that  in  the  Shamane  prayers  "  brrr  —  " 
is  synonymous  with  " hail,'  and  I  have  little  doubt  that  it  here  meant  some 
sort  of  applause,  as  it  was  always  the  signal  for  the  repetition  of  the  hymn  in 
celebration  of  the  glories  of  Munza. 

t  A  similar  contrivance  is  used  on  the  river  Gabon  on  the  West  Coast. 
Vol.  n.— 5 


62  THE  HEART  OF  AFRICA. 

The  discourse  lasted  full  lialf  an  hour,  during  which  time 
I  took  the  portrait  of  the  king  that  forms  the  frontispiece  to 
this  book.  Hunger  at  length  compelled  me  to  take  my 
leave  of  the  sovereign  and  retrace  my  steps  to  the  camp. 
At  parting  Munza  said  to  me,  "  I  do  not  know  what  to  give 
you  in  return  for  all  your  presents ;  I  am  sorry  I  am  so  poor 
and  have  nothing  to  offer  you."  Fascinated  by  his  modesty 
and  indulging  the  idea  that  it  was  only  a  preface  to  a  muni- 
ficent gift  worthy  of  royalty,  I  replied,  "  Don't  mention  that : 
I  did  not  come  for  what  I  could  get ;  we  buy  ivory  from  the 
Turks,  and  pay  them  with  yellow  lead  and  white  iron,  and 
we  make  white  stuffs  and  powder  and  guns  for  ourselves. 
I  only  ask  for  two  things :  a  pig  (Potamochoerus)  and  a 
chimpanzee." 

"  You  shall  certainly  have  them,"  said  Munza ;  but  I  was 
thoroughly  deceived,  and,  in  spite  of  my  repeated  reminders, 
neitlier  pig  nor  chimpanzee  ever  appeared. 

As  I  left  the  hall  the  king  commenced  a  new  oration. 
As  for  mj-feelf,  I  was  so  thoroughly  fatigued  with  the  noise 
and  tumult,  that  I  was  glad  to  spend  the  remainder  of  this 
memorable  day  quietly  in  my  tent. 

Early  on  the  following  morning  I  was  aroused  by  ray 
people,  who  begged  me  to  come  out  and  see  what  the  king 
was  sending  me.  Looking  down  the  road  I  perceived  a 
group  of  Monbuttoo,  who  with  a  good  deal  of  shouting  were 
lugging  up  the  hill  something  that  I  could  not  make  out. 
Mohammed  presently  hurried  up  with  the  surprising  an- 
nouncement that  he  had  made  Munza  comprehend  that  my 
valuables  were  all  lying  out  in  the  open  air  and  exposed  to 
the  rain,  and  that  the  king  was  now  sending  me  a  house  as 
his  first  present.  I  thought  at  first  that  he  was  jesting,  but 
a  few  minutes  sufficed  to  convince  me  of  the  truth  of  his 
statement.  I  then  became  aware  that  about  twenty  natives 
were  carrying  on  their  shoulders  the  substructure  of  a  small 
quadrilateral  house,  wliile  others  were  following  with  the 


MONBUTTOO  VISITORS.  53 

roof.  A  very  short  time  elapsed  before  they  had  mounted 
the  hill  and  placed  the  erection  in  close  juxtaposition  to  my 
tent.  The  light  structure,  woven  together  with  the  Spanish 
reed,  looked  exactly  like  a  huge  hamper,  with  the  roof  for 
a  lid.  It  was  about  twenty  feet  long,  and  sufficiently  com- 
modious to  contain  all  my  goods,  and  was  especially  useful 
for  protecting  my  paper  packets. 

I  was  thus  elevated  to  the  rank  and  enjoyed  the  rights 
of  a  householder  among  the  Monbuttoo,  and  my  intercourse 
with  the  natives  became  more  intimate  every  day.  My  tent 
was  continually  besieged  by  a  host  of  curious  spectators, 
of  whom  the  more  well-to-do  brought  their  benches,  and, 
ranged  in  rows  before  the  opening,  watched  in  silent  eager- 
ness my  every  movement.  Their  chiefest  interest  seemed 
absorbed  in  contemplating  my  person,  although  many  of  the 
utensils  and  implements  that  surrounded  me  must  have  been 
quite  as  strange  and  incomprehensible  to  them.  These 
frequent  visitors  at  first  afforded  me  great  amusement, 
and  I  received  them  with  friendly  gestures,  and  combed 
my  hair  and  shaved  in  conspsdu  omnium.  Nor  wa& 
the  wonder  all  on  their  side ;  every  moment  revealed 
some  novelty  to  myself,  and  I  found  full  employment  in 
sketching  and  taking  notes.  The  great  difficulty  to  our 
intercourse  was  in  not  understanding  one  another's  language. 
Now  and  then,  however,  I  managed  to  get  hold  of  some 
people  who  could  speak  the  Zandey  dialect ;  and  then, 
with  the  help  of  my  Niam-niam  interpreters,  I  could  ask 
them  questions  and  get  my  wishes  conveyed  to  the  general 
multitude. 

"  Bring  your  weapons,"  I  would  say ;  "  bring  your  weapons, 
and  the  produce  of  your  handicraft,  your  ornaments  and 
tools,  and  I  will  give  you  beautiful  things  in  return  ;  bring 
the  fruits  of  your  forests,  and  the  leaves  of  the  trees  on 
which  they  grow  :  bring  the  skins  and  skulls  of  animals ; 
but  above  all  brino;  the  human  skulls  that  remain  over  from 


54  THE  HEART  OF  AFRICA. 

your  meals :  thoy  are  of  no  use  to  you — bring  them,  and 
I  will  give  you  copper  in  exchange." 

I  hatl  rarely  occasion  to  repeat  my  request,  but  almost 
before  my  wish  was  uttered  there  was  opened  a  regular 
curiosity  mart ;  goods  were  bartered,  and  a  flourishing  trade 
was  done. 

The  stock  of  bones  that  was  thus  brought  to  me  in  one 
day  was  quite  astonishing,  and  could  not  do  otherwise  than 
remove  any  lingering  hesitation  I  might  have  in  believing 
the  cannibal  propensities  of  the  people.  There  were  piles 
of  every  kind — fragments  of  skulls,  and  lower  jaw-bones  from 
which  the  teeth  had  been  extracted  to  serve  as  ornaments 
for  the  neck.  The  belief  seemed  to  be  that  I  had  no  inten- 
tion of  dealing  otherwise  than  wholesale.  Proofs  enough 
were  before  me ;  sufficient,  I  should  suppose,  to  silence  even 
the  most  stubborn  scepticism.  It  cost  me  some  trouble  to 
convince  the  people  that  my  requirements  only  extended  to 
such  skulls  as  were  perfectly  uninjured,  and  that  for  such 
only  could  I  be  content  to  pay.  For  a  perfect  skull  I  pro- 
mised an  armlet  of  copper,  but  I  found  that  nearly  all  that 
were  brought  to  me  had  been  smashed  for  the  purpose 
of  extracting  the  brains.  Out  of  the  two  hundred  skulls  that 
were  produced,  I  was  able  to  select  no  more  than  forty,  each 
of  which  I  carefully  labelled  for  consignment  to  Europe. 
The  people  who  brought  them  professed  to  give  full  parti- 
culars about  them,  as  to  where  they  had  come  from,  and 
whether  they  were  male  or  female — details  which  of  course 
enhanced  the  value  of  the  collection.  The  want  "of  these 
particulars  detracts  very  much  from  the  worth  of  manv 
collections  of  skulls,  for,  as  regards  the  purposes  of  com- 
parative ethnology,  not  much  information  is  to  be  derived 
from  a  skull  of  which  the  only  explanation  is  that  it  came 
from  Brazil  or  East  Africa.  The  great  majority  of  those 
which  the  Monbuttoo  brought  me  had  been  procured  from 
the  people  who  inhabited  the  districts  south  of  their  own 


CONTRIBUTION  OF  SKULLS.  55 

land,  and  were  the  result  of  the  raids  that  had  been  made 
upon  them ;  hardly  any  were  the  skulls  of  the  Monbuttoo 
themselves.  The  condition  in  which  I  received  many 
of  the  fragments  afforded  indubitable  proof  that  thev 
hfd  been  boiled  in  water  and  scraped  with  knives;  and 
some,  I  suspect,  came  straight  from  the  platters  of  the 
natives,  inasmuch  as  they  were  still  moist,  and  had  the 
odour  of  being  only  just  cooked.  A  good  many  had  all  the 
appearance  of  being  raked  out  of  old  dust-heaps,  whilst  some 
few  had  been  found,  in  the  streams,  and  had  manifestly  been 
laved  by  the  water. 

To  those  who  brought  the  skulls,  I  thought  it  expedient 
to  explain  that  we  wanted  them,  so  that  in  our  far-off  country 
we  could  learn  all  about  the  people  who  dwelt  here,  and  that 
we  were  able,  from  the  mere  shape  of  the  head,  to  tell 
all  about  people's  tempers  and  dispositions,  their  goad 
qualities  and  their  bad ;  and  that  for  this  purpose  we 
gathered  skulls  together  from  every  quarter  of  the  globe. 
When  the  Khartoomers  saw  that  the  collection  was  now 
going  on  for  a  second  year,  they  were  only  the  more  con- 
firmed in  their  belief  that  I  submitted  them  to  a  certain 
process  by  which  I  obtained  a  subtle  poison.  From  the 
more  dense  and  stupid  natives,  the  idea  could  not  be  eradi- 
cated that  I  wanted  all  the  bones  for  my  food.  To  save  the 
honour  of  Europe,  and  in  love  for  the  science  of  which  I  was 
the  representative,  I  lavished  on  these  errors  an  incense 
unbefitting  the  doctrine  of  Gall's  phrenology. 

Among  those  who  day  after  day  entered  the  camp  to  pay 
me  a  visit,  were  several  who  had  come  from  a  great  distance, 
and  amongst  them  the  ambassadors  of  the  neighbouring 
Niam-niam  king,  Kanna,  whose  territories  lie  to  the  west 
and  north-west  of  the  Monbuttoo.  The  district  had  been 
part  of  the  kingdom  of  Keefa,  a  powerful  prince,  whose 
enormous  stores  of  ivory  had  ever  constituted  a  great  attrac- 
tion for  the  expeditions  of  the  Khartoomers,  though  they 


5G  THE  HEART  OF  AFRICA. 

seldom  travelled  as  far  as  his  dominions.  Keefa,  whose  sm*- 
name  was  Ntikkima,  about  two  years  before  our  arrival,  had 
lost  his  life  in  a  campaign  against  the  Mabode,  a  black  negro 
people  to  the  south-west  of  the  Monbuttoo.  His  four  eldest 
sons  had  partitioned  his  extensive  power  between  them,  aifc 
the  largest  share  of  land  had  fallen  to  the  lot  of  Kanna,  who 
now  sent  the  deputation  to  invite  Mohammed  to  visit  his 
country.  Mohammed,  meanwhile,  had  already  determined 
that  the  land  of  Kanna  should  be  the  limit  of  the  southward 
march  of  a  corps  that  he  detached  ;  but  time  would  not  per- 
mit us  ourselves  to  make  so  wide  a  detour.  It  would  occupy 
the  space  of  several  months. 

From  these  Niam-niam  envoys  I  derived  several  scraps  of 
information  about  the  western  regions,  which  threw  some 
light  upon  the  lower  course  of  the  Welle,  and  of  that 
other  stream  to  the  north  of  it,  which,  from  the  union  of 
several  streams  that  rise  in  the  district  of  Wando,  appears 
very  soon  to  become  a  large  and  copious  river.  Between 
these  two  rivers  (the  Welle  and  the  so-called  Bahr-el -Wando, 
which  joins  it  in  Kanna's  district)  was  situated  the  residence 
of  the  deceased  Keefa,  which,  owing  to  its  position,  was 
described  in  the  Arabic  way  as  being  on  an  island.  It  was 
represented  as  being  to  the  N.N.W.  of  Munza's  residence, 
from  which,  according  to  their  accounts,  it  was  distant  some 
forty  miles. 

I  made  inquiries  amongst  them  about  the  white  man 
Piaggia,  whom  the  Nubians  had  brought  into  the  country, 
and  who  was  afiSrmed  to  have  visited  Keefa's  residence ;  but 
my  respondent  replied  that,  though  they  had  heard  of  him 
by  report,  he  had  never  been  into  the  country ;  and  this  cor- 
responded exactly  with  what  had  been  told  me  by  Ghattas's 
company  that  had  brought  Piaggia  as  far  as  Tombo. 

All  that  Piaggia  communicated  about  the  Niam-niam  was 
very  interesting,  and  remains  uncontested  ;  but  he  lies  open 
to  the  reproof  of  making  fictitious  routes.     It  is  evident, 


THE  KING'S  SON.  57 

moreover,  that  he  arranges  the  Niam-niam  princes  in  a  false 
order;  for  example,  he  makes  Keefa  follow  immediately 
after  Malingde  or  Malindo ;  and  he  only  assigns  a  period  of 
two  days  for  a  journey  which  Antinori,  the  editor  of  his 
reports,  has  simply  stated  to  be  sixty-five  miles,  I  should 
congratulate  a  company  that  could  get  a  party  of  refractory 
bearers  to  accomplish  more  than  a  dozen  leagues  a  day, 
where  they  would  have  to  cross  a  dozen  brooks  and  marshes, 
many  of  them  taking  half  an  hour  to  accomplish.  Not  a 
word,  moreover,. does  he  utter  about  the  strange  people  who 
reside  to  the  south  of  the  Niam-niam.  At  Indimma,  the 
population  is  a  very  intermingled  race,  the  Niam-niam 
scarcely  making  up  one-half,  and  in  Keefa's  region  scarcely 
making  up  a  minority.  Elsewhere  Piaggia's  observations 
seemed  acute  enough,  but  here  he  has  nothing  to  remark. 

Many  as  were  the  visitors  that  I  received  at  my  tent,  none 
awakened  greater  interest  than  one  of  the  sons  of  Munza. 
The  name  of  this  distinguished  personage  was  Bunza,  and  he 
was  about  the  lightest-skinned  individual  that  I  had  here 
beheld.  His  complexion  could  not  have  been  fairer  if  he 
had  been  a  denizen  of  Central  Egypt.  His  hair  was  equally 
pale  and  grizzly ;  his  tall  chignon  being  not  unlike  a  bundle 
of  hemp,  and  standing  in  marked  contrast  to  the  black 
tresses  which  were  stretched  across  the  brow.  As  the  hair 
about  the  temples  does  not  grow  sufficiently  long  for  this 
purpose,  the  Monbuttoo  are  accustomed  to  use  false  hair ; 
and  as  fair  heads  of  hair  are  somewhat  uncommon,  false 
hair  to  match  the  original  is  difficult  to  purchase.  This 
young  man,  of  whom  I  was  successful  in  taking  a  deliberate 
sketch,  exhibited  all  the  characteristics  of  pronounced 
albinism,  and  in  truth  to  a  degree  which  can  be  often 
seen  in  a  fair  individual  of  the  true  Semitic  stock,  either 
Jew  or  Arabian.  The  eyes  seemed  painfully  affected  by 
light,  and  had  a  constant  objectless  leer;  the  head,  sup- 
ported on  a  shrivelled  neck,  kept  nodding  with  an  involun- 


68  THE  HEART  OF  AFRICA. 

tary  movement,  and  whenever  it  rested  it  was  sure  to  be  in 
some  extraordinary  position.  Bunza  reminded  me  very 
vividly  of  some  white  twins  that  I  once  saw  on  the  Red 
Sea:  they  were  iishermen  of  Djidda,  and  looked  as  like 
each  other  as  eggs  from  one  nest.  I  do  not  know  that  I 
am  warranted  in  drawing  any  definite  inferences  from  my 
observation ;  but  I  cannot  suppress  the  remark,  that  to  my 
mind  the  Monbuttoo  have  the  tokens  of  a  Semitic  origin 
most  thoroughly  impressed  upon  their  countenance,  to  which 
in  particular  the  nose  (which  does  not  at  all  approach  to  the 
common  negro  outline)  very  much  contributes.  Bunza's 
nose  was  a  regular  hawk's-bill. 

Of  the  other  members  of  the  royal  family,  several  of 
Munza's  wives  and  his  eldest  sister  came  to  inspect  our 
camp.  This  latter  woman  was  repulsive-looking  enough, 
and  did  not  appear  to  possess  any  of  the  warlike  virtues 
attributed  to  one  of  her  sisters  named  Nalengbe,  who  is  since 
dead,  but  who  had  once  arrayed  herself  in  a  man's  dress, 
and  entered  into  personal  conflict  with  the  Nubians.  This 
weak  woman's  vanity  made  her  the  laughing-stock  of  stran- 
gers and  acquaintances  alike ;  she  perambulated  the  camp, 
displaying  the  grossest  familiarity  with  the  soldiers.  She 
begged  me  to  make  her  a  present  of  some  lead,  which  the 
Nubians  from  motives  of  policy  had  withheld.  Lead  was 
still  in  this  region  as  much  of  a  rarity  as  though  it  was  just 
discovered,  and  produced  among  them  for  the  first  time. 
Munza's  sister  used  to  hammer  bright  ear-rings  out  of  what- 
ever musket-balls  she  could  procure. 

One  morning  about  thirty  of  the  royal  ladies  came,  all 
together,  into  the  camp  to  receive  the  presents  which 
Mohammed  had  provided  for  them.  They  all  had  comely, 
youthful,  well-knit  figures,  and  were  for  the  most  part  tall, 
but  much  cannot  be  said  in  favour  of  their  expression.  They 
emulated  each  other  in  the  extent  of  their  head-gear  and  in 
the  profusion  with  which  they  adorned  the  body.     Two  of 


INTRUDERS.  59 

them  submitted  to  have  their  portraits  taken ;  the  whole 
party  sat  in  a  circle,  taking  up  their  position  during  the 
time  that  I  was  sketching  the  likenesses  on  the  little  single- 
stemmed  stools  which  they  had  brought  with  them ;  when 
they  took  their  seats  they  threw  their  bands  across  their 
laps.  Some  of  the  group  stood  .out  in  marked  contrast  to 
the  rest  by  their  light  complexion  and  fair  hair,  whilst  others 
approximated  very  nearly  to  the  colour  of  cafe-au-lait.  When 
I  had  finished  my  drawing,  I  was  anxious  to  show  my  appre- 
ciation of  the  ladies'  patience,  and  accordingly  oifered  to 
present  them  with  some  beads,  but  they  at  once  begged  to 
refuse  the  proffered  necklace,  explaining  that  they  were  not 
at  liberty  to  accept  presents  from  anyone  but  "Mbahly" 
(Aboo  Sammat).  These  they  had  come  to  fetch,  but  they 
had  had  no  orders  to  receive  anything  from  "  Mbarik-pah ;" 
it  might  arouse  suspicion,  and  suspicion  with  Munza,  the 
interpreters  insisted,  was  tantamount  to  death. 

However  interested  I  might  be,  just  at  first,  in  the 
vivacious  movements  of  the  people  as  they  thronged  around 
me,  it  did  not  take  long  to  make  me  feel  that  they  were  a 
weariness  and  a  nuisance.  On  the  very  next  day  after  our 
arrival  I  was  obliged  to  encircle  my  tent  with  a  thorn-hedge 
to  keep  off  the  press  of  the  inquisitive  crowds ;  full  many, 
however,  there  were  who  would  not  be  deterred  by  any 
obstacle  of  this  kind ;  regardless  of  the  obstruction,  they 
penetrated  right  into  my  presence.  I '  was  interrupted  at 
every  moment  by  these  intrusions.  My  next  resource  was 
to  have  a  lot  of  water  dashed  over  the  encroaching  rabble, 
and  finding  that  fail,  I  fired  some  trains  of  gunpowder,  and, 
in  the  hopes  of  alarming  the  natives,  I  proceeded  to  set  light 
to  a  few  shells ;  but  even  the  explosions  of  these  did  not 
take  much  effect.  It  seemed  as  if  nothing  could  keep  the 
curious  crowds  at  a  distance,  and,  at  my  wits'  end  what  to  do, 
I  applied  to  Mohammed  for  assistance.  He  assigned  me  a 
guard  of  men  ;  but  even  this  scheme  only  partially  succeeded ; 


60  THE  HEAET  OF  AFEICA. 

it  answered  very  well  as  long  as  I  kept  within  the  bounds  of 
my  asylum,  but  I  had  only  to  venture  beyond,  and  I  found 
my  retinue  as  large  as  ever.  The  majority  of  those  who 
harassed  me  in  this  way  were  women,  who,  by  keeping  up 
with  me  step  by  step,  thoroughly  baffled  me  in  all  my 
attempts  to  botanize;  and  if  perchance  I  managed  to  get 
away  into  the  wood,  they  would  find  me  out,  and  trample 
down  the  rare  flowers  I  had  laboriously  collected,  till  I  was 
almost  driven  to  despair.  When  thus  escorted  by  about  a 
hundred  women  I  was  marching  down  to  the  streams  in  the 
depth  of  the  valleys,  I  might  indulge  the  fancy  that  I  was  at 
the  head  of  a  triumphal  procession,  and  as  often  as  our  path 
led  us  through  villages  and  farms  the  numbers  in  the  train 
were  swollen  prodigiously. 

Sometimes  I  was  in  a  better  mood,  and  indulged  in  a 
little  joke.  I  had  picked  up  some  of  their  words,  and  when 
I  shouted  one  of  these  out  loud  it  was  taken  up  merrily  by 
the  whole  party,  and  passed  on  from  mouth  to  mouth.  Their 
word  "  hosanna,"  for  instance,  means  "  it  is  not,"  and  on  one 
occasion  having  happened  to  shout  out  this,  I  proceeded  for 
a  quarter  of  an  hour  while  the  women  around  me  paused  not 
a  moment  in  making  the  air  resound  with  the  cry  "  Hosanna." 
Not  unfrequently  I  would  try  them  with  some  hard  crack- 
jaw  German  word,  in  order  to  enjoy  their  conscientious  endea- 
vours to  reproduce  it ;  but  perhaps  best  of  all  for  producing 
a  characteristic  scene  was  the  choice  of  one  of  their  imitative 
names  of  animals,  where  the  appellation  is  derived  from  the 
sounds  uttered  by  the  creatures  themselves.  A  goat  is  in  this 
way  called  *'  memmeh."  I  once  seated  myself  in  the  centre 
of  a  concourse  of  women,  and  drew  a  picture  of  a  couple  of 
goats,  and  the  keynote  being  given,  every  time  a  fresh  woman 
came  up  she  found  herself  greeted  with  the  universal  bleating 
cry  of  "  Memmeh,  memmeh — eh  ? "  "  What's  the  row  ? 
What's  up  ?"  would  be  her  question.  "  Memmeh,  memmeh  " 
(a  goat,  a  goat),  would  be  all  the  answer. 


INQUISITIVENESS.  61 

These  Monbuttoo  women,  who  were  so  intolerably  obtrusive 
whilst  I  was  amongst  other  folks,  were  reserved  enough  about 
themselves ;  however  much  I  might  be  anxious  to  investigate 
their  domestic  habits,  I  had  but  to  present  myself  at  the 
entrances  of  their  huts,  and  off  they  were  in  an  instant  to 
the  interior,  and  their  doors  barred  against  all  intrusion. 

There    were    delicious    places    where,   encircled    by   the 

luxuriance  of  a  tropical  vegetation,  the  clear  and  sparkling 

pools  invited  me  to  the  enjoyment  of  a  safe  and  refreshing 

bath,   an  irresistible  attraction   after  the  numberless  mud 

baths   of  the  Niam-niam  country.     Everything  seemed  to 

conspire  to   render   the   scenery  perfect  in    its  bewitching 

grace ;  each  winding  of  the  brook  would  be  overarched  by  a 

magnificent  canopy  of  gorgeous  foliage ;  the  waving  pendants 

of  the  blooming  shrubs  would  shadow  the  secluded  stream ; 

a  fantastic  wreath  of  elegant  ferns  growing  up  amongst  the 

goodly  leaves  of  the  aroideae  and  the  ginger-plants  would 

adorn  the  banks ;  gigantic  stems,  clothed  with  accumulated 

moss,  would  rise  upwards  in  majestic  height  and  reach  down 

like  steps  in  romantic  beauty  to  the  bathing-place.     But, 

alas !  even  this  nook,  where  the  delights  of  paradise  seem 

almost   to   be   perpetuated,   may   not  be   secure   from   the 

torment  of  humanity.     It  happens  here  according  to  the 

teaching  of  the  poet,  that — 

"  every  prospect  pleases. 
And  only  man  is  vile." 

Nature  is  only  free  and  perfect  where  man  comes  not  with 
his  disturbing  foot.  In  my  romantic  bathing,  this  disturbance, 
ever  and  again,  would  come  in  the  shape  of  some  hideous  and 
inquisitive  Monbuttoo  woman,  who  had  posted  herself  on  the 
overlooking  heights,  either  to  enjoy  the  picturesque  contrast 
of  light  and  shade,  or  to  gratify  her  curiosity  by  getting  a 
peep  at  my  figure  through  the  openings  of  the  foliage  as  I 
emerged  from  the  dim  obscurity  of  the  wood. 

A  day  seldom  passed  without  my  making  some  addition  to 


62  THE  HEART  OF  AFRICA. 

my  botanical  store.  Beside  a  pathway  in  the  wood  I  chanced 
to  come  upon  the  great  seeds  of  a  legumen  which  hitherto 
was  quite  unknown  to  me  ;  the  natives,  when  I  showed  them 
to  them,  told  me  that  the  name  of  the  plant  which  bore 
them  was  the  "  morokoh ;"  after  a  while  I  succeeded  in  getting 
an  entire  pod,  and  recognised  it  as  the  produce  of  the  Entada 
seandens,  known  in  the  West  Indies  as  the  sword-bean.  These 
seed-vessels  attain  a  length  of  five  feet,  and  are  about  as  wide 
as  anyone  could  span,  the  seeds  themselves  being  flat,  and 
having  their  corners  rounded  off,  and  (with  the  exception  of 
the  produce  of  some  palms)  are  the  largest  that  are  known, 
their  flattened  sides  not  unfrequently  measuring  three  square 
inches.  Their  size  gives  them  a  great  capability  for  resisting 
the  influence  of  the  sea,  and  they  retain  their  germinating 
power  for  many  months,  so  that,  carried  over  by  the  ocean- 
currents,  they  are  borne  to  every  quarter  of  the  globe.  They 
have  been  observed  in  the  arctic  regions  and  on  the  northern 
shores  of  Nova  Zembla,  and  within  the  tropics  they  have 
found  their  way  to  both  the  Indies  and  to  many  islands  of 
the  Pacific.  These  enormous  beans  bear  signal  witness  to  the 
course  of  the  Gulf  Stream.  Their  proper  home  would  seem  to 
be  the  tropical  regions  of  Africa,  as  their  occurrence  in  the 
Monbuttoo  lands,  equally  distant  from  either  ocean,  manifestly 
witnesses.  Anxious  to  investigate  where  the  "  morokoh " 
could  really  be  found,  I  devoted  a  special  excursion  to  the 
search,  and  went  out  for  a  couple  of  leagues  or  more  in  a 
south-westerly  direction  from  the  camp.  Crossing  several 
brooks  and  passing  through  many  a  grove  of  oil-palms,  we 
reached  some  farmsteads  that  were  erected  in  a  welcome 
shade.  All  along  our  steps  we  were  followed  by  a  group  of 
people  who  continually  fell  out  and  squabbled  with  the  Bongo 
and  other  natives  belonging  to  our  caravan,  but  who  towards 
myself  personally  were  as  courteous  and  amiable  as  could 
be  wished.  It  might  be  expected  that  my  bean-pods,  five 
feet  long,  would  be  found  upon   some   enormous   trees  of 


THE  KOYAL  CASTLE.  63 

corresponding  growth,  but  in  truth  the  Entada  scandens  is  a 
weak  deciduous  creeper,  which  climbs  along  the  underwood 
that  abounds  in  the  depressions  of  the  brooks. 

The  twenty  days  of  our  residence  in  this  interesting  spot 
slipped  away  only  too  quickly.  There  was,  however,  a  series 
of  fresh  surprises  awaiting  me.  How  I  made  acquaintance 
with  the  Pygmies  is  a  tale  that  must  be  told  in  a  later 
chapter.  High  festivities  in  the  court  of  the  king— the 
general  summons  of  the  population  to  take  their  share  in  the 
hunt  as  often  as  either  buffaloes  or  elephants  came  within 
sight — the  arrival  of  vassals  conveying  their  tribute  and 
making  a  solemn  entrance  with  their  attendant  warriors — 
all  these  events  succeeded  each  other  in  rapid  order,  and 
gave  me  ample  opportunity  of  studying  the  peculiarities  of 
the  people  from  many  a  different  point  of  view. 

T  paid  repeated  visits  to  the  king,  sometimes  finding  him 
in  his  granaries  engaged  in  distributing  provisions  to  his 
officers,  and  sometimes  in  the  inner  apartments  of  his  own 
special  residence.  One  afternoon  I  received  permission,  in 
company  with  Mohammed,  to  inspect  all  the  apartments  of 
the  royal  castle.  The  master  of  the  ceremonies  and  the  head- 
cook  escorted  us  round.  Mohammed  was  already  familiar 
with  all  the  arrangements,  and  was  consequently  able  to  call 
my  attention  to  anything  worthy  of  particular  notice.  What 
I  call  "  the  castle "  is  a  separate  group  of  huts,  halls,  and 
sheds,  which  are  enclosed  by  a  jialisade,  and  which  may  be 
entered  only  by  the  king  and  by  the  officers  and  servants  of 
the  royal  household.  All  official  business  is  transacted  in 
the  outer  courts.  Trees  were  planted  regularly  all  round  the 
enclosure,  and  contributed  to  give  a  comfortable  and  home- 
like aspect  to  the  whole.  Not  only  did  the  oil-palms  abound, 
but  other  serviceable  trees  were  planted  round  the  open 
space,  and  declared  the  permanency  of  the  royal  residence,  in 
contradistinction  to  the  fluctuating  and  unsettled  dwelling- 
places  of  the  Niam-niam  chieftains. 


(54 


THE  HEART  OF  AFRICA. 


I  was  next  brought  to  a  circular  building  with  an  imposing 
conical  roof,  which  was  appropriated  as  the  arsenal,  and  was 
full  of  weapons  of  every  variety.  Sword-blades  and  lances 
were  especially  numerous,  and  I  was  at  liberty  to  make  my 
selection  out  of  them,  as  the  king  had  chosen  in  this  way  to 
make  his  return  for  the  presents  he  had  received  from  me. 
The  superintendents  and  keepers  of  the  armoury  did  all  in 
their  power  to  interfere  with  the  freedom  of  my  choice,  and 
as  often  as  I  showed  my  fancy  for  any  piece  that  was 
particularly  rare,  they  hesitated  before  surrendering  it,  and 
made  a  condition  that  the  express  consent  of  the  king  must 
be  secured  before  a  specimen  so  recherche  could  be  given  up. 
As  the  result  of  this  exchange  of  presents,  I  found  my  tent 
loaded  with  an  immense  assortment  of  knives,  scimitars 
lances,  spears,  bows,  and  arrows.  At  the  subsequent  confla- 
gration all  the  wooden  portions  of  these  were  destroyed,  but 
the  metal  work  was  safely  remitted  to  Europe  as  a  proof  of 
the  artistic  taste  and  industry  of  the  people. 

The  same  day  I  had  the  opportunity  of  seeing  the  splendid 
oxen  which  Munza  had  received  from  the  friendly  king  in 


Breed  of  cattle  from  the  Maoggoo  countiy. 


PIAGGIA'S  LAKE.  65 

in  the  south-east,  and  to  which  I  have  already  had  occasion 
to  refer.*  A  representation  of  one  of  these  animals  is  now- 
introduced,  showing  the  great  fat  hump,  which  is  larger  than 
any  that  I  had  hitherto  seen. 

All  attempts  to  elicit  any  information  about  the  country  to 
the  south 'of  their  own  were  quite  unavailing;  the  people 
were  silent  as  the  tomb.  Nor  did  I  succeed  much  better 
when  I  came  to  inquire  of  King  Munza  himself.  Every 
inquiry  on  my  part  was  baffled  by  the  resolute  secrecy  of 
African  state  policy,  and  the  difficulties  of  the  duplicate 
interpretation  gave  Munza  just  the  pretext  he  wanted  for 
circumlocution  and  evasive  replies. 

I  was  most  anxious  to  obtain  correct  information  as  to 
whether  the  great  inland  lake  to  which  Piaggia  had  referred 
had  any  real  existence  in  the  district  or  not,  and  I  satisfied 
myself  by  positive  testimony  that  the  natives  had  no  actual 
knowledge  about  it.  But  it  was  really  very  difficult  to  con- 
vey to  them  any  notion  whatever  of  what  was  intended ; 
there  was  an  utter  absence  of  any  simile  by  which  the  idea 
of  a  lake,  a  great  inland  expanse  of  fresh  water,  could  be 
illustrated,  and  the  languages  of  the  interpreters  (Arabic 
and  Zandey),  however  copious  they  might  be,  were  yet  inade- 
quate in  this  particular  matter.  Neither  in  Egypt  nor  in 
the  Egyptian  Soudan  is  there  a  proper  term  for  ■  a  lake. 
There  are  indeed  the  terms  "birket,"  "foola,"  and  "tirra," 
but  these  only  signify  respectively  a  pond,  a  rainpool,  and  a 
marsh;  and  Piaggia,  who,  as  I  have  pointed  out,  did  not 
actually  reach  Keefa,  spoke  only  from  hearsay,  either  from 
the  reports  of  the  Nubians,  to  whom  probably  some  vague 
information  of  Baker's  discoveries  had  reached,  or  by  an 
erroneous  conception  of  the  explanation  of  the  natives  when 
they  described  the  "  great  water,"  which  in  reality  was  the 
river  flowing  past  Keefa's  residence.     Monbuttoo  and  Niam- 


*  Vide  vol.  i.  chap.  xiii. 
YoL.  IL— 6 


66  THE  HEAllT  OF  AFRICA. 

niam  alike  are  entirely  incapable  of  comprehending,'  what  is 
meant  by  an  ocean.  Anything  contrary  to  this  statement 
which  may  have  been  spread  abroad  by  Khartoom  adven- 
turers *  I  do  not  think  I  need  hesitate  to  describe  as  sheer 
nonsense  or  as  idle  fancy.  The  tales  of  steamers  and  of  ships 
with  crews  of  white  men,  which  are  said  to  have  been  de- 
scribed by  the  natives  as  having  come  along  their  rivers,  and 
the  stories  that  pictures  of  these  ships  have  been  found  in  their 
dwellings,  are  doubtless  circulated  amongst  travellers  to  the 
Niam-niam  lands,  but  without  any  assignable  grounds. 

After  much  demurring  and  waiving  the  question,  the  king's 
interpreter  did  aifirm  that  he  knew  of  such  standing  water 
in  the  country :  he  pointed  towards  the  direction  of  the 
W.S.W.,  and  said  its  name  was  "  Madimmo,"  and  that  it  was 
Muuza's  own  birthplace.  The  place  was  called  "  Ghilly  "  by 
the  Niam-niam ;  but  when  I  inquired  more  accurately,  and 
began  to  investigate  its  extent,  I  received  an  answer  which 
set  my  mind  entirely  at  rest  that  it  was  as  large  as  Munza's 
palace ! 

I  nurtured  the  silent  hope  that  by  mentioning  certain 
names  that  perchance  might  be  known  to  the  Moubuttoo,  I 
should  succeed  in  breaking  down  their  reserve.  1  asked  the 
king  if  he  knew  anything  of  the  land  of  Ulegga  and  of  its 
kino-  Ixadjoro,  or  whether  he  knew  King  Kamrasi,  whose 
dominions  were  beyond  the  "  great  water,"  and  behind  the 
mountains  of  the  Malegga ;  and  I  pointed  at  the  same  time 
towards  the  S.E.  Then  I  mentioned  Kamrahs,  repeating  the 
word  and  saying  "  Kamrahs,  Kamrahs,"  in  the  way  that  the 
Nubians  are  accustomed  to  do,  but  both  Munza  and  his  in- 
terpreter were  silent,  or  proceeded  to  speak  of  other  matters. . 
But  while  this  conversation  was  going  on,  a  significant  look 
that  Munza  gave  his  interpreter  did  not  escape  my  notice, 


*  Compare  Dr  Ori's  letter  to  the  Marquis  Antiuori  in  the  '  Bolletiuo  deUa 
Soc.  Geogr.  Ital.,'  i.  p.  184. 


AN  EXCHANGE.  67 

and  very  much  confirmed  my  suspicion  that  he  was  not 
altogether  unacquainted  with  Kauirasi. 

Some  time  afterwards  Munza,  in  the  most  off-hand  way, 
complained  that  I  had  not  given  him  enough  copper.  Know- 
ing the  general  expectations  of  an  African  king,  I  was  only 
surprised  that  he  had  not  urged  his  demand  before.  He 
reminded  me  of  the  quantity  of  copper  that  Mohammed  had 
given  him  :  "  Mohammed,"  he  said, "  is  a  great  sidtan  ;  but  you 
are  also  a  great  sultan."  AYhen  1  reminded  him  that  I  did  not 
take  any  of  his  ivory,  he  seemed  to  acquiesce  in  my  excuse ; 
but  he  very  shortly  afterwards  sent  me  some  messengers  to 
request  that  I  would  make  him  a  present  of  the  two  dogs 
which  I  had  brought  with  me.  They  were  two  common 
Bongo  curs  of  very  small  growth,  but  by  contrast  with  the 
mean  breed  of  the  Moubuttoo  and  the  Niam-niam  they  were 
attractive  enough  to  excite  the  avidity  of  Munza.  He  had 
never  seen  dogs  of  such  a  size,  and  did  not  want  them  as 
dainty  morsels  for  his  table,  but  really  wished  to  have  them 
to  keep.  However,  he  had  long  to  beg  in  vain ;  I  assured 
him  that  the  creatures  had  grown  up  with  me  till  I  was  truly 
fond  of  them  ;  they  were,  as  I  told  him,  my"  children  ;  I  was 
not  disposed  to  part  with  them  at  any  price,  and  might  as 
well  be  asked  to  give  the  hair  off  my  head.  But  my  repre- 
sentations had  no  effect  upon  Muuza ;  he  had  made  up  his 
mind  to  have  the  dogs,  and  did  not  pass  a  day  without 
repeating  his  request,  and  enforcing  it  by  sending  fresh 
relays  of  presents  to  my  tent.  Nothing,  however,  moved  me. 
At  last  some  slaves,  both  male  and  female  were  sent,  and  the 
sight  of  these  suggested  a  new  idea.  1  resolved  to  give  way, 
and  to  exchange  one  of  my  dogs  for  a  specimen  of  the  little 
Akka  people.  Munza  acceded  at  once,  and  sent  me  two  of 
them.  He  could  not  suppress  his  little  joke.  "You  told 
me,"  said  he,  "  not  long  since,  that  the  dogs  were  your  chil- 
dren ;  wliat  will  you  say  if  I  call  these  my  children  ?  " 

I  accepted  the  smallest  of  the  Akka,  a  youth  who  might 


68  THE  HEAK^J'  OF  AFRICA. 

be  about  fifteen  years  of  age,  hoping  to  be  able  to  take  him 
to  Europe  as  a  living  evidence  of  a  truth  that  lay  under  the 
myth  of  some  thousand  years.  I  shall  give  a  fuller  account 
of  this  little  specimen  of  humanity  in  the  chapter  that  will 
be  devoted  to  the  subject  of  the  Pygmies. 

It  had,  moreover,  become  high  time  for  me  to  give  way, 
and  not  to  put  the  cannibal  ruler's  patience  to  too  severe  a 
test.  The  exchange  which  had  been  effected  restored  me  to 
the  royal  favour,  and  a  prohibition  which  had  been  issued  to 
the  natives,  warning  them  not  to  have  any  transactions  with 
me  by  selling  me  produce  or  curiosities,  was  withdrawn.  I 
received  now  such  quantities  of  ripe  plantains  that  I  was 
able  to  procure  an  abundance  of  plantain-wine,  an  extremely 
palatable  and  wholesome  drink,  which  is  obtained  after  being 
allowed  to  ferment  for  twenty-four  hours. 

During  this  time  Mohammed  had  begun  to  find  that  the 
supply  of  provisions  was  growing  inadequate,  and  that  he 
would  find  some  difficulty  in  meeting  the  necessities  of  his 
numerous  bearers  and  of  his  heterogeneous  caravan.  He 
accordingly  resolved  to  make  a  division  of  the  entire  com- 
pany, and  to  send  a  detachment  back  to  Izingerria  beyond 
the  Welle,  where  tliey  might  get  corn  and  other  supplies. 
In  my  own  case,  I  was  obliged  to  do  without  proper  bread ; 
no  eleusine  was  to  be  had,  and  I  was  reduced  to  a  flat  tough 
cake  made  of  manioc  and  plantain-meal. 

As  no  cattle-breeding  is  practised  among  the  Monbuttoo, 
I  should  have  been  fastened  down  to  a  uniform  diet  of 
vegetables  if  I  had  not  happened  to  be  aware  that  in  the  last 
raid  against  the  Momvoo  a  very  considerable  number  of 
goats  had  been  driven  into  the  country.  I  induced  the  king 
to  become  my  agent  for  getting  me  some  of  them,  and  sent 
him  three  large  copper  bracelets,  weighing  about  a  pound, 
for  every  goat  that  he  would  let  me  have.  In  this  way  I 
gradually  obtained  about  a  dozen  fat  goats,  and  more  beau- 
tiful creatures  of  the  I  kind  had  never  seen  since  I  had  left 


GOATS  OF  THE  MOMN'OO. 


69 


Khartoom.  They  were  of  two  different  breeds :  one  of  them 
was  singularly  like  the  Bongo  race,  which  has  been  before 
described,  and  which  are  remarkable  for  the  long  hair  that 
hanofs   from  their   neck  and  shoulders ;    the  other  differed 


Goat  ol'  the  iMumvoo. 


from  any  type  that  I  had  previously  seen  in  having  an 
equally-distributed  drooping  fleece,  which  serves  as  a  covering 
for  its  short-haired  extremities,  and  in  its  nose  being  very 
considerably  arched.  The  ordinary  colour  of  these  graceful 
animals  is  a  uniform  glossy  black.  They  are  fed  almost 
exclusively  upon  plantain  leaves,  a  food  which  makes  them 
thrive  admirably.  When  I  had  got  half-a-dozen  of  them 
together  1  had  them  all  killed  at  once.  I  had  the  flesh  all 
taken  off  the  bones,  the  sinews  carefully  removed,  and  then 
made  my  bearers,  who  had  no  other  work  to  do,  mince  it 


70  THE  HEART  OF  AFRICA. 

up  very  fine  upon  some  boards.  The  entire  mass  was  next 
thrown  into  great  vessels  and  boiled ;  it  was  afterwards 
strained,  and  when  it  had  got  cold  it  was  freed  from  all  fat 
and  finally  steamed  until  it  was  a  thick  jelly.  The  extract 
of  meat  obtained  in  this  way  had  to  serve  throughout  our 
return  journey,  and  in  the  sequel  proved  a  very  remunerative 
product.  It  was  not  liable  to  decomposition,  and  its  keeping 
so  well  made  it  an  excellent  resource  in  time  of  want  and 
postjioned  the  evil  day  of  our  actual  suffering  from  hunger. 

Besides  the  company  of  Mohammed  Aboo  Samraat,  there 
were  two  other  companies  that  for  some  years  had  been 
accustomed  to  carry  their  expeditions  into  the  Monbuttoo 
country,  namely,  Agahd's  and  that  of  the  Poncets,  which  was 
afterwards  transferred  to  Ghattas.  It  was  a  matter  of  arrange- 
ment that  these  should  confine  their  operations  to  the  eastern 
districts,  where  Degberrg,  was  king.  At  their  departure  they 
always  left  a  small  detachment  in  charge  to  look  after  their 
business  interests  and  to  prevent  any  competition.  Agahd's 
and  Poncet's  soldiers  had  been  left  in  the  garrisons  in  the 
districts  that  were  under  the  control  of  Degberra's  generals, 
Kubby  and  Benda,  and  they  were  only  too  glad  to  embrace 
the  present  chance  (as  we  were  only  distant  a  two  days' 
journey)  of  coming  to  see  their  friends  and  acquaintance 
from  Khartoom  and  to  hear  the  news. 

To  all  appearance  the  Monbuttoo  air  agreed  excellently  with 
them  all,  which  is  more  than  can  be  said  of  those  who  reside 
in  some  of  the  northern  Seribas.  They  had  wives  and  families 
in  the  country,  and  made  no  otlier  complaint  than  that  their 
life  was  somewhat  lonely  and  monotonous  and  their  food  so 
different  to  what  they  had  been  accustomed  to ;  but  what 
the  fanatical  Mohammedans  had  most  readily  to  avow  was 
that  they  really  held  the  natives  in  admiration  and  respect, 
notwithstanding  their  intense  detestation  of  the  cannibalism 
which  was  attributed  to  them.  Mohammed  also  left  some  of 
his  people  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Munza ;  and  these  strangers 


AFRICAN  CAUTION.  71 

had  permission  to  erect  Seribas  and  to  plant  their  environs 
with  sweet-potatoes,  manioc,  and  plantains.  Their  preroga- 
tive extended  no  further  than  this,  and  they  had  no  authority 
at  all  over  the  natives  ;  however  small  might  be  their  number 
in  any  place  (sometimes  not  a  score  of  men  altogether)  they 
were  sure  to  be  sufBcient  to  restrain  the  inhabitants  from  any 
attempt  at  surprise.  The  African  savages  are  not  like  the 
American  Indians,  who  are  always  prepared  to  see  a  few  of 
their  party  killed  at  the  outset,  provided  that  they  can  only 
make  sure  of  ultimate  success  and  can  get  their  plunder  at 
last ;  not  that  the  Africans  underrate  the  advantage  thev 
possess  in  the  superiority  of  their  numbers,  nor  that  they 
entertain  too  hiarh  an  estimate  of  the  braverv  of  the  Nubians 
but  they  are  conscious  that  no  attack  could  be  ventured 
without  one  or  two  of  them  having  to  pay  the  penalty  of 
their  lives.  No  one  is  ready  for  his  own  part  to  run  the  risk 
of  his  own  being  the  life  that  must  fee  sacrificed  ;  and  thus  it 
happens  that  the  prospect  of  a  few  deaths  is  sufficient  to 
deter  them,  though  they  might  be  reckoned  by  thousands, 
from  making  that  outbreak  whicli  tlieir  numerical  strength 
miffht  guarantee  would  be  finallv  successful. 

As  soon  as  Mohammed  became  aware  that  he  had  got  to 
the  end  of  the  king's  store  of  ivory  he  began  to  think  of  his 
ways  and  means,  and  contemplated  pusliing  on  farther  to 
the  south  and  opening  a  new  market  for  himself.  With  the 
greatest  enthusiasm  I  entered  into  his  design,  and  taking  up 
his  cry,  "  To  the  world's  end!"  I  added,  "  Now's  the  time, 
and  onward  let  us  go!"  But,  unfortunately,  there  were 
insuperable  obstacles  in  the  way.  In  the  first  place,  there 
was  the  decided  opposition  of  the  Idng,  who  entertained  the 
very  natural  belief  that  the  farther  progress  of  the  Khar- 
toomers  to  the  south  would  interfere  with  his  monopoly 
of  the  copper  trade ;  and  in  the  next  place  there  was  the 
impossibility  of  Mohammed  being  able,  without  Munza's 
co-operation,  to  procure  sufficient  provisions  for  so  arduous 


72  THE  HEART  OF  AFRICA. 

an  undertaking.  To  put  the  former  difficulty  to  th(3  test, 
Mohammed  despatched  his  nephew  with  the  conduct  of  an 
expedition  just  sufficiently  large  to  venture  the  attampt. 
For  three  days  this  expedition  pressed  on,  until  upon  the 
Eiver  Nomayo,  an  affluent  of  the  Welle,  they  reached  the 
residence  of  one  of  Munza's  sub-chieftains,  whose  name  was 
Mummery.  Halfway  upon  their  route  they  had  rested  at 
the  dwelling-place  of  another  chieftain,  named  Nooma.  Both 
Mummery  and  Nooma,  it  should  be  said,  were  Munza's  own 
brothers ;  but  neither  of  them  would  venture  to  open  com- 
mercial transactions  of  any  kind  without  the  express  orders 
of  the  king,  and  consequently  the  expedition  had  to  return 
at  once  and  leave  its  object  unaccomplished. 

The  disappointment  was  very  keen :  it  was  a  bitter  grief 
to  see  one's  most  cherished  projects  melt  thus  thoroughly 
away.  Nor  vsras  it  a  much  smaller  matter  of  regret  that 
Mohammed  felt  himself  obliged  to  curtail  even  our  few  weeks' 
residence  with  Munza;  he  might  propose,  indeed,  to  ad- 
vance to  the  south  from  the  eastern  portion  of  the  Monbuttoo 
country,  but  that  was  a  project  that  was  little  likely  to  be 
accomplished. 

For  a  long  period  I  held  fast  to  my  intention  of  remaining 
behind  alone  in  Munza's  country  with  the  soldiers  who 
would  be  left  in  charge  of  the  Seriba ;  and  I  indulged  the 
fascinating  hope  that  I  should  find  an  opportunity  of  pene- 
trating into  that  farther  south  which  I  longed  so  earnestly 
to  investigate ;  but  my  protector  would  not  acquiesce  in  this 
for  a  moment,  nor  did  any  of  my  own  people  show  an 
inclination  to  support  my  wishes.  It  was  very  doubtful  if 
we  could  be  relieved  during  the  next  year,  or  the  year  after, 
if  at  all ;  my  resources  even  now  were  hardly  enough  to  take 
me  home  again ;  the  wherewithal  for  further  enterprise  was 
altogether  wanting ;  if  I  should  entrust  my  collection,  which 
1  had  so  laboriously  gathered,  to  the  care  of  others,  there 
was  every  risk  of  its  becoming  wet  and  even  spoiled ;   the 


WANT  OF  A  GOLDEN  KEY.  73 

prospect,  too,  of  penetrating  into  the  interior  under  the 
escort  of  the  Monbuttoo  themselves  was  not  altogether 
inviting :  I  should  only  have  accompanied  their  plundering 
raids,  where  I  should  have  been  compelled  to  be  a  daily 
witness  of  their  cruelties  and  cannibalism ;  thus  upon  serious 
deliberation  I  was  driven  to  the  conviction  that  my  scheme 
was  not  feasible. 

No  doubt  a  very  different  vista  would  have  opened  itself 
before  me  into  the  untraversed  interior  of  the  continent  if 
I  had  chanced  to  be  one  of  those  favoured  travellers  who 
have  unlimited  command  of  gold.  But  fortune  and  money 
appear,  with  regard  to  African  travel,  to  stand  very  much 
in  the  same  relation  to  one  another  as  force  and  time  in 
physics ;  what  you  gain  in  one,  you  lose  in  the  other. 
The  fortunate  and  healthy  travellers,  like  Karl  Mauch  and 
Gerhard  Eohlfs,  have  generally  been  very  limited  in  their 
means;  whilst  rich  travellers,  such  as  the  Baron  von  der 
Decken  and  Miss  Tinne,  have  succumbed  to  difficulties, 
sickened,  or  died.  Any  expedition  that  was  fitted  out  with 
a  liberality  proportioned  to  that  of  Speke's  would  have  been 
capable  of  advancing  from  Munza's  to  the  south,  defiant  of 
opposition ;  enough  copper  would  have  neutralised  the  re- 
sistance of  the  king;  if  force  could  be  opposed  by  force, 
and  threats  could  be  met  by  threats,  the  native  princes 
would  all  declare  themselves  to  be  friends,  and,  like  Mtesa 
and  Kamrasi,  would  meet  them  with  open  arms.  But,  as  I 
say,  the  resources  must  be  adequate.  With  two  hundred 
soldiers  from  Khartoom,  not  liable  to  fever,  and  capable 
of  existing  upon  food  of  any  sort,  and  who  were  up  to  all 
the  dodges  and  chicaneries  of  the  African  chieftains,  any 
one  could  penetrate  as  far  as  he  chose.  If  I  had  possessed 
10,000  dollars  in  my  purse,  or  had  them  invested  properly 
in  Khartoom,  I  would  have  guaranteed  to  bring  my  leader 
on  to  Bornoo.  The  sum  would  have  sufficed  to  keep  his 
soldiers  up  to  their  duty;  and  under  those  circumstances  1 


74  THE  HEART  OF  AFRICA. 

shonM  have  been  master  of  the  situation,  and  Mohammed 
would  have  had  means  to  get  as  much  ivory  as  he  could 
desire. 

These  intimations  may  suffice  to  show  that,  in  my  opinion, 
with  the  aid  of  the  Kliartoom  merchant  companies,  access 
could  be  had  to  the  remotest  parts  of  the  continent  without 
any  exorbitant  outlay  of  money ;  but  conditions  so  favour- 
able for  prosecuting  the  work  as  those  which  then  fell  to  my 
lot,  I  fear  may  be  long  before  they  occur  again. 

Munza's  visits  made  a  diversion  in  our  camp  life.  The 
finest  entertainment,  however,  which  chanced  to  occur  was 
the  celebration  of  the  victory  which  Mummery  had  obtained 
over  the  Momvoo.  As  the  produce  of  his  successful  raid, 
Mummery  brought  the  due  contributions  of  ivory,  slaves, 
and  goats,  to  lay  before  the  feet  of  the  king,  and  the  occasion 
w-as  taken  to  institute  a  festival  on  the  grandest  scale.  In 
consequence  of  Munza's  establishment  being  already  taxed 
with  the  entertainment  of  so  many  strangers,  Mummery 
only  stayed  for  a  single  night.  The  morning  after  his 
arrival  was  appointed  for  the  feast. 

The  early  part  of  the  day  was  cold  and  rainy ;  but  quite 
betimes,  the  shouts  and  cheers  that  rang  around  the  camp 
told  us  that  the  rejoicing  already  had  begun.  Towards  mid- 
day the  news  was  brought  that  the  excitement  was  reaching 
its  climax,  and  that  the  king  himself  was  dancing  in  the 
presence  of  his  numerous  wives  and  courtiers.  The  weather 
was  still  chill  and  drizzly ;  but,  putting  on  a  long  black 
frock-coat  as  being  the  most  appropriate  costume  for  the 
occasion,  I  bent  my  steps  to  the  noble  saloon,  which  re- 
sounded again  with  the  ringing  echoes  of  uproarious  cheers 
and  clanging  music.  The  scene  that  awaited  me  was  unique. 
Within  the  hall  there  was  a  spacious  square  left  free,  around 
which  the  eighty  royal  wives  were  seated  in  a  single  row 
upon  their  little  stools,  having  painted  themselves  in  honour 
of  the  occasion .  with  the  most  elaborate  care :   thev  were 


MUNZA'S  DANCE.  75 

applauding  most  vigorously,  clapping  their  hands  with  all 
their  might.  Behind  the  women  stood  an  array  of  warriors 
in  full  accoutrement,  and  their  lines  of  lances  were  a  frontier 
of  defence.  Every  musical  accompaniment  to  which  the 
resources  of  the  court  could  reach  had  all  been  summoned, 
and  there  was  a  melee  of  gongs  and  kettle-drums,  timbrels 
and  trumpets,  horns  and  bells.  Dancing  there  in  the  midst 
of  all,  a  wondrous  sight,  was  the  king  himself. 

Munza  was  as  conspicuous  in  his  vesture  as  he  was 
astounding  in  his  movements.  It  is  ever  the  delight  of 
African  potentates  on  occasions  of  unusual  pomp  to  present 
themselves  to  their  subjects  in  some  new  aspect.  Munza's 
opportunities  in  this  way  were  almost  unlimited,  as  he  had 
a  liouse  full  of  skins  and  feathers  of  every  variety:  he 
had  now  attired  his  head  in  the  skin  of  a  great  black 
baboon,  giving  him  the  appearance  of  wearing  a  grenadier's 
bearskin ;  the  peak  of  this  was  dressed  up  with  a  plume  of 
waving  feathers.  Hanging  from  his  arms  were  the  tails 
of  genets,  and  his  wrists  were  encircled  by  great  bundles  of 
tails  of  the  guinea-hog.  A  thick  apron,  composed  of  the 
tails  of  a  variety  of  animals  was  fastened  round  his  loins, 
and  a  number  of  rings  rattled  upon  his  naked  legs.  But  the 
wonder  of  the  king's  dress  was  as  nothing  compared  to  his 
action.  His  dancing  was  furious.  His  arms  dashed  them- 
selves furiously  in  every  direction,  though  always  marking 
the  time  of  the  music ;  whilst  his  legs  exhibited  all  the 
contortions  of  an  acrobat's,  being  at  one  moment  stretched 
out  horizontally  to  the  ground,  and  at  the  next  pointed 
ujiwards  and  elevated  in  the  air.     The  music  ran  on  in  a 


wild  and  monotonous  strain,  and  the  women  raised  their 
hands  and  clapped  together  their  open  palms  to  mark  the 
time.     For  what  length  of  time  this  dance  had  been  going 


7G  THE  HEART  OF  AFRICA. 

Oil  1  did  not  quite  understand;  I  only  know  that  I  found 
Munza  raving  in  the  hall  with  all  the  mad  excitement 
which  would  have  been  worthy  of  the  most  infatuated 
dervish  that  had  ever  been  seen  in  Cairo.  Moment  after 
moment  it  looked  as  if  the  enthusiast  must  stagger,  and, 
foaming  at  the  mouth,  fall  down  in  a  fit  of  epilepsy ;  but 
nervous  energy  seems  greater  in  Central  Africa  than  among 
the  "  hashishit "  of  the  north :  a  slight  pause  at  the  end  ol 
half  an  hour,  and  all  the  strength  revived ;  once  again  would 
commence  the  dance,  and  continue  unslackened  and  un- 
wearied. 

So  thoroughly  were  the  multitude  engrossed  with  the 
spectacle  that  hardly  any  attention  at  all  was  given  to  my 
arrival,  and  a  few  who  noticed  it  did  not  permit  them- 
selves to  be  diverted  from  the  enjoyment  of  their  pleasure. 
I  had  an  opportunity,  therefore,  of  transferring  the  scene  to 
paper,  and  of  finishing  a  sketch  which  embraces  its  promi- 
nent features. 

But  above  the  tumult  of  men  was  heard  the  tumult  of  the 
elements.  A  hurricane  arose,  with  all  the  alarming  violence 
of  tropical  intensity.  For  a  little  while  the  assembly  was 
unmoved  and  disposed  to  take  no  notice  of  the  storm ;  but 
soon  the  wdnd  and  pelting  rain  found  their  way  into  the 
openings  of  the  hall;  the  music  ceased,  the  rolling  drum 
yielding  to  the  thunder ;  the  audience  in  commotion  rose, 
and  sought  retreat ;  and  in  another  instant  the  spectacle  was 
over ;  the  dancing  king  was  gone. 

The  floods  of  rain  compelled  me  to  remain  upon  the  spot, 
and  I  took  advantage  of  the  opportunity  to  make  an  undis- 
turbed inspection  of  the  other  and  larger  hall,  which  was 
situated  just  opposite  to  the  one  in  which  I  was.  A  low 
doorwav  led  into  the  edifit*e,  which  was  150  feet  Ions:  and 
not  less  than  fifty  feet  high ;  it.  was  lighted  only  by  narrow 
apertures,  and  the  roof  was  supported  on  five  rows  of  columns. 
On  one  side  of  it  was  a  wooden  partition  which  divided  oli' 


A  VISIT  FEOM  THE  KING.  77 

from  the  spacious  edifice  a  small  apartment,  where  the  king 
was  accustomed,  according  to  the  imperial  wont  of  altering 
the  sleeping- place,  occasionally  to  pass  the  night.  An  enor- 
mous erection,  ponderous  enough  to  support  an  elephant, 
served  as  a  bedstead;  on  each  side  of  this  Avere  several 
posts  each  encircled  by  forged  iron  rings  that  could  not 
weigh  less  than  half  a  hundredweight.  In  this  royal  bed- 
chamber I  noticed  a  large  number  of  barbarous  decorations, 
and  I  observed  that  the  pillays  and  the  timberwork  were 
rudely  painted  with  numerous  geometrical  designs,  but  that 
the  artists  seem  to  have  had  only  three  colours  at  their 
command ;  blood-red,  yellow-ochre,  and  the  white  from  do^s' 
dung  {cdhum  grsecum). 

'MwoT.Q,  twice  honoured  our  camp  with  a  visit.  His 
majesty's  approach  was  announced  long  beforehand  by  the 
outcries  of  the  teeming  people  that  thronged  along  his  way. 
On  entering  the  encampment  he  found  the  German  flag 
waving  from  a  tall  flagstaff  that  I  had  erected  in  the  imme- 
diate proximity  of  my  tent ;  he  was  curious  to  know  what  it 
meant,  and  had  to  be  initiated  into  the  object  of  a  national 
symbol,  and  to  be  informed  of  the  tragical  experiences  of 
King  Theodore  in  Abyssinia.  It  was  a  great  relief  to  me 
that  he  did  not  require  to  enter  either  into  my  tent  or 
into  a  large  grass-shed  which  had  been  recently  erected 
for  me.  Altogether  the  monarch  displayed  much  less 
covetousness  than  I  had  reason  to  expect.  Eecognising  this 
moderation  on  his  part,  I  endeavoured  to  entertain  him  by 
showing  him  my  collection  of  pictures,  and  amongst  others 
I  submitted  to  him  the  one  of  himself  in  the  copper  habili- 
ments which  he  had  worn  on  the  day  of  our  first  audience. 
They  were  the  only  portraits  he  had  ever  seen,  and  his 
astonishment  was  very  great ;  the  play  of  the  muscles  of  his 
face  displayed  the  interest  he  took,  and,  according  to  the 
custom  of  the  land,  he  opened  his  mouth  quite  wide,  and 
Ciwered  it  with  his  open  hand,  betraying  thereby  his  surprise 


78  THE  HEART  OF  AFRICA. 

and  admiration.  I  had  afterwards  to  open  my  bosom  for  his 
inspection,  and  when  I  turned  up  my  shirt-sleeves,  he  cculd 
not  suppress  a  cry  of  amazement.  The  interview  ended,  as 
such  visits  generally  did,  by  his  expressing  a  wish,  wit'i 
whicli  I  had  not  the  least  intention  to  comply,  that  I  would 
take  off  my  boots. 

The  date  of  our  departure  was  now  drawing  near,  and  yet 
neither  my  promised  chimpanzee  nor  guinea-hog*  had 
appeared.  About  the  chimpanzee  the  truth  was  that  not  one 
could  be  found  in  the  district,  which  was  far  too  densely 
populated,  and  where  the  woods  upon  the  river-banks  were 
very  light  and  traversed  by  frequent  pathways ;  but  with 
regard  to  the  guinea-hog  it  was  quite  different ;  they  "were 
to  be  found  in  the  nearest  environs  of  the  royal  residence, 
and,  if  only  Munza  had  been  inclined,  he  could  have  redeemed 
his  promise  and  secured  me  a  specimen  without  difficulty. 
He  left  me,  consequently,  to  get  one,  if  I  could,  for  myself; 
but  this,  to  a  novice  in  the  chase,  was  more  easily  said  than 
done,  and  I  had  to  ramble  in  the  thickets,  rifle  in  hand,  under 
the  vain  hope  that  I  might  secure  a  specimen. 

Only  once,  and  that  was  just  when  evening  was  coming  on 
to  close  a  cloudy  day,  and  a  drizzling  mist  was  giving  obscu- 
rity to  the  woods,  I  caught  sight  of  one  of  these  animals.  Its 
red  bristly  head  and  long  pointed  ears  peered  out  from 
behind  the  prostrate  stem  of  a  great  tree,  and  I  was  just 
concluding  that  it  was  within  gunshot,  wiien  at  the  very 
instant  two  of  my  native  attendants  were  seen  beside  it 
rolling  on  the  ground  and  bleeding  at  the  nose.  My  people 
were  not  remarkable  for  pluck,  and  nothing  would  induce 


*  The  Guinea-hog  (Potamochcerus  penicillatus)  is  called  "Napezzo,"  or 
"'  fat,"  by  the  Monbuttoo,  and  its  flesli  is  considered  very  choice.  These 
animals,  which  are  not  nearly  so  wild  as  the  wart-hogs  (the  blabark  of  the 
South  African  Boers),  and  are  indeed  capable  of  being  partially  tamed,  are 
found  throughout  the  tropical  regions  of  Africa,  from  the  west  coast  to  Zanzi- 
bar. Burton  met  with  them  in  Ugogo.  In  early  times  they  were  already 
introduced  into  Brazil. 


WASHING  DAY. 


70 


them  to  a  second  venture  with  the  beast.     Thus  1  was  com- 
pelled to  renounce  my  hope  of  getting  a  guinea-hog. 

During  the  earlier  hours  of  the  morning  and  the  later 
hours  of  the  aftarnoon,  I  spent  the  time,  day  after  day,  in 
continual  excursions,  which  enabled  me  to  add  to  the  novel- 
ties of  u?y  collection.  The  middle  of  the  day  I  devoted  to  the 
necessary  supervision  of  my  household.  The  peiiodic  wash- 
ing day  had  come,  and  I  was  at  a  loss  to  find  a  washing-tub 
that  could  contain  the  accumulated  linen.  Mohammed's 
ingenuity  came  once  more  to  my  aid.  He  borrowed  King 
Munza's  largest  meat-dish  for  my  use.  A  lordly  dish  it  was ; 
more  like  a  truck  than  an  article  for  the  table.  It  was  five 
feet  long,  and  hewn  from  a  single  block. 


King  Muuza's  disn. 


Vol.  II.— 7 


CHAPTER    XV. 

The  Monbcttoo.  Previous  accounts  of  the  Monbuttoo.  Population.  Sur- 
rounding nations.  Neglect  of  agriculture.  Products  of  the  soil.  Pro- 
duce of  the  chase.  Forms  of  greeting.  Preparation  of  food.  Universal 
cannibalism.  National  pride  and  warlike  spirit.  Power  of  the  sovereign. 
His  habits.  The  royal  household.  Advanced  culture  of  the  Monbuttoo. 
Peculiarities  of  race.  Fair  hair  and  complexion.  Analogy  to  the  Fulbe. 
Preparation  of  bark.  Nudity  of  the  women.  Painting  of  the  body. 
Coiffure  of  men  and  women.  Mutilation  not  practised.  Equipment  of 
warriors.  Manipulation  of  iron.  Early  knowledge  of  copper.  Probable 
knowledge  of  platinum.  Tools.  Wood-carving.  Stools  and  benches. 
Symmetry  of  water-bottles.  Large  halls.  Love  of  ornamental  trees.  Con- 
ception of  Supreme  Being. 

It  was  in  December  1868,  just  before  starting  from  Khar- 
toom,  that  I  received,  in  a  somewhat  circuitous  way,  the  first 
intelh'gence  of  a  people  called  the  Monbuttoo,  who  were  said 
to  dwell  to  the  south  of  the  Niam-niam.  Dr.  Ori,  the  chief 
official  physician  at  Khartoom,  in  a  letter  to  the  Marquis 
Antinori,  had  detailed  all  the  most  recent  particulars  of  the 
ivory  traffic  in  the  remote  districts  south  of  the  Gazelle,  and 
had  specially  referred  to  the  transactions  of  Jules  Poncet. 
These  particulars  were  published  without  much  delay  in  the 
journal  of  the  Geographical  Association  of  Paris ;  and  I 
chanced  to  find  Dr.  Ori's  letter  quoted  entire  in  the  Italian 
Geographical  Society's  'Bolletino,'  which  was  transmitted 
to  me  by  the  Marquis  Antinori  himself  just  before  I  was 
setting  out  on  my  expedition. 

Although  the  intelligence  conveyed  by  Ori  and  Poncet 
failed  utterly  in  giving  either  clearness  or  consistency  to  the 
confused  depositions  of  those  ignorant  and  uninformed  men 


NATIOXAL  FEATURES  OF  THE  MONBUTTOO.     81 

wlio  had  been  their  authorities,  it  still  had  the  intrinsic 
merit  of  enlarging  the  domain  of  geographical  knowledge  by 
some  matters  of  fact  which  it  was  reserved  for  me  individually 
to  confirm  by  my  own  observation.  It  laid  down  as  facts, 
first,  that  to  the  south  of  the  Niam-niam  territory  there  is  a 
river  flowing  towards  the  west  ;*  secondly,  that  this  river  is 
not  tributary  to  the  Nile ;  and,  thirdly,  that  its  banks  are 
populated  by  a  race  quite  distinct  from  the  ordinary  negro 
race,  its  inhabitants  being  of  a  brownish  complexion,  and 
exhibiting  a  grade  of  civilization  which  is  considerably  in 
advance  of  what  is  elsewhere  found  in  Central  Africa. 

These  people  were  designated  by  the  name  of  the  Mon- 
buttoo,  and  by  the  ivory  traders  they  were  known  as  Gurru- 
gurroo,  a  definition  that  is  derived  from  an  Arabic  word 
which  refers  to  their  universal  habit  of  piercing  their 
ears. 

No  sooner  had  I  really  reached  the  district  of  the  Gazelle 
than  I  discovered  from  my  conversation  and  intercourse 
with  the  leaders  of  the  ivory  traffic  that  the  Monbuttoo  were 
regarded  as  holding  a  very  peculiar  and  prominent  place. 
Their  country  never  failed  to  furnish  a  theme  of  general 
praise.  It  was  declared  to  be  prolific  in  ivory ;  it  was  profuse 
in  its  natural  products ;  the  pomp  of  its  sovereign  was 
unrivalled ;  but,  above  all,  the  skill  of  its  people,  in  the 
fabrication  alike  of  their  weapons  for  war  and  their  utensils 
for  peace,  was  assumed  to  be  so  striking  that  they  were 
comparable  to  the  denizens  of  the  civilized  west,  and  that  in 
some  respects  the  Franks  themselves  did  not  surpass  them  in 
the  exercise  of  an  aesthetic  faculty. 

That  I  might  succeed  in  making  my  way  onwards  to  the 
territory  of  this  problematical  people,  naturally  became 
more  and  more  my  impatient  and  ardent  desire ;  and  it  will 


*  Heuglin  in  1863,  had  received  intelligence  of  what  was  now  proved,  viz. 
that  the  same  district  from  which  issues  the  White  Nile  also  gives  birth  tu 
another  stream,  called  by  him  the  river  of  Sena. 


82  THE  HEART  OF  AFRICA. 

readily  be  understood  how  eagerly  I  recognised  xVboa 
Sammat  as  offered  by  a  propitious  fate  to  be  the  conductor 
upon  whom  I  might  rely  for  being  introduced  to  a  closer 
view  of  this  undefined  race,  which  might  be  likened  in  a  way 
to  a  nebula  in  the  geographical  firmament.  Very  much  I 
now  rejoice  at  being  in  a  position  to  submit,  upon  the  evidence 
of  my  own  observation,  a  somewhat  detailed  account  of  this 
race,  who  may  be  described  as  constituting  a  sort  of  remote 
island  of  humanity.  Surrounded  as  it  is  by  the  waves  of 
fluctuating  nationalities,  it  is,  as  it  were,  an  "  ultima  TJmle  " 
of  geographical  research ;  or  perhaps  still  more  appropriately 
it  might  be  likened  to  a  boulder  thrown  up  from  a  lower 
formation,  and  exhibiting  a  development  of  indigenous  cul- 
ture, entirely  different  to  what  can  be  witnessed  all  around. 

The  territory  of  the  Monbuttoo,  as  it  lies  in  the  heart  of 
Africa,  does  not  cover  an  area  of  more  than  4000  square 
miles,  but  the  ratio  of  the  census  of  its  population  is  hardly 
exceeded  by  any  region  of  the  entire  continent.  Estimating 
the  density  of  the  people  by  the  districts  through  which  we 
travelled,  and  observing  that  cultivated  farms  followed  upon 
cultivated  farms,  without  a  barren  spot  between,  I  suppose 
that  there  are  at  least  250  inhabitants  to  the  square  mile, 
which  would  give  an  aggregate  population  of  about  a  million. 
The  position  of  the  country  is  embraced  very  nearly  between 
the  parallels  of  3°  and  4°  north  latitude,  and  28^  and  29° 
east  longitude  from  Greenwich,  To  the  north  of  the  country 
there  is  a  large  river,  usually  copious  in  its  stream,  called  the 
Keebaly.  This  is  joined  by  the  Gadda,  which  flows  from  the 
south-east.  After  the  junction  it  is  known  as  the  Welle, 
and  has  a  breadth  of  about  800  feet,  whilst  never,  even  in 
the  driest  season,  does  its  depth  diminish  to  less  than  fifteen 
feet.  It  proceeds  to  the  west  along  the  southern  portion  of 
the  adjoining  Niam-niam  district,  and  being  swollen  by  the 
accession  of  numerous  tributaries  from  the  southern  districts 
ol  the  Monbuttoo,  it  very  rapidly  assumes  its  large  dimen- 


MOXBUTTOO  GOTEEXMEXT.  83 

sious.  Beyond  a  doubt  it  is  the  upper  course  of  the  most 
easterly  of  the  two  arms  which,  after  they  have  united  in 
Baghirmy,  flow  onwards  under  the  name  of  the  Shary,  that 
river  to  which  Lake  Tsad  owes  its  existence. 

There  are  two  chieftains  who,  with  regard  to  the  extent  of 
their  dominions  and  the  numerical  strength  of  their  armed 
forces  (for  their  sway  extends  far  beyond  the  populous 
districts  of  the  Monbuttoo),  may  well  be  designated  as  kings. 
They  have  partitioned  the  sovereignty  between  them :  the 
eastern  division  being  subject  to  Degberra,  the  western 
division  is  governed  by  Munza,  who  exercises  a  much  more 
powerful  control;  he  is  a  son  of  King  Tikkibob,  who  had 
once  enjoyed  the  undivided  rule  over  the  entire  Monbuttoo 
land,  but  thirteen  years  previously  had  been  mui-dered  by 
his  brother  Degberra. 

Sub-chieftains  or  viceroys  are  distributed  over  various 
sections  of  the  country,  and  these  are  accustomed  to  surround 
themselves  with  a  retinue  and  state  little  inferior  to  those  of 
the  kings  themselves.  In  Munza's  realms  there  are  three 
of  these  dignitaries ;  viz.  his  brothers  Izingerria,  Mummery, 
and  Xooma ;  subordinate  to  Degberra  there  are  his  four 
sons,  Kubby,  Benda,  Koopa,  and  Tangara.' 

The  country  of  the  Xiam-niam  constitutes  the  northern 
and  north-western  boundaries  of  the  Monbuttoo.  This 
comprises  the  territories  of  Kanna  and  Indimma,  sons  of  the 
once  powerful  Keefa,  and,  farther  on,  the  district  of  Malingde 
or  Marindo,  which  approaches  in  an  easterly  direction  iliore 
towards  the  territory  of  Wando ;  each  of  these  countries  are, 
however,  separated  by  wildernesses  which  it  requires  two 
days  to  cross.  The  southern  limits  of  the  Monbuttoo  are 
enclosed,  as  it  were.,  by  a  semicircle  of  typical  negroes,  whom 
they  embrace  in  the  comprehensive  detinition  of  ''  Momvoo," 
a  disdainful  epithet  implying  the  extremity  of  their  degra- 
dation. From  this  category  we  are  possibly  called  upon  to 
exclude  in  this  quarter  (as  perchance  in  every  other  region 


84  THE  HEART  OF  AFRICA. 

of  Africa)  those  isolated  races  of  dwarfs,  familiarly  known  as 
"  Pygmies,"  of  which  the  Akka,  who  reside  in  the  S.S.W., 
and  have  their  abodes  close  to  the  confines  of  the  kingdom 
of  Munza,  may  be  quoted  as  examples.  The  bulk  of  this 
apparently  thickly-peopled  race  is  subject  to  independent 
chieftains,  but  there  is  one  section  Avhich  is  tributary  to 
Munza  in  so  far  as  this,  that  it  makes  its  contributary 
payments  to  Mummery,  as  being  Munza's  vicegerent. 
According  to  the  depositions  of  some  Nubians  who  have 
been  stationed  for  some  years  past  in  the  Monbuttoo  country, 
the  language  of  the  Babuckur  is  found  to  be  spoken  among 
the  Momvoo.  To  support  their  opinion  the  Nubians  affirm 
that  women-slaves  brought  from  Babuckur  have  always  been 
found  able  to  converse  with  the  natives  of  the  land  just  to 
the  south  of  the  Monbuttoo ;  a  circumstance  which  is  not 
without  its  signification  as  explaining  the  most  recent 
migration  of  nations  into  this  part  of  Africa.  Since  the  two 
enclaves  of  Babuckur  on  the  eastern  boundaries  of  the  Niam- 
niani  appear  only  to  be  removed  from  each  other  by  an 
interval  of  sixty  miles  and  to  be  hemmed  in  by  hostile 
neighbours,  the  fact,  taken  in  connection  with  the  above, 
may  serve  to  dercionstrate  that  Monbuttoo  and  Niam-niam 
alike  must  have  been  advancing  in  an  easterly  direction. 

Munza's  neighbours  towards  the  south-west  and  south  of 
the  kingdom  of  Kanna  are  the  Mabohde.  This  is  a  people 
whom  Keefa,  Kanna's  father  (known  also  as  Ntikkima),  was 
accilstomed  to  harass  in  war  till  he  met  with  his  own  death. 
Farther  on  towards  the  S.S.W.,  and  separated  from  Munza 
by  the  Mabohde  and  the  Akka,  there  lies  the  district  of  the 
Massanza,  a  tribe  which  is  held  in  subjection  by  the  formid- 
able hand  of  Kizzo.  To  the  south  and  south-east  are  found 
the  Nemeigeh,  the  Bissangah,  and  the  Domondoo,  tenanting 
a  mountainous  region,  which  not  improbably  is  the  western 
declivity  of  that  important  mountainous  formation  to  which 
Baker,  in  describing  the  north-west  of  Lake  Mwootau,  has 


THE  MONBUTTOO  TERRITORY.  85 

referred  under  the  name  of  the  Blue  Mountains.  The  settle- 
ments of  the  Domondoo  are  the  usual  limits  to  which  the 
Monbuttoo  are  accustomed  to  carry  their  plundering  expedi- 
tions. Some  Nubian  soldiers  who  had  been  quartered  in  the 
country  of  Munza,  and  who  had  accompanied  him  in  some 
of  his  marauding  exploits  have  given  a  description  of  the 
general  mountainous  character  of  the  land,  and,  moreover, 
have  asserted  that  goats,  which  are  known  neither  to  the 
Niam-niam  nor  to  the  Monbuttoo,  have  been  captured  there 
in  great  numbers.  The  Babuckur  also,  notwithstanding  the 
frequent  incursions  which  their  neighbours,  ever  greedy  of 
animal  diet,  have  made  upon  their  over-populated  and 
oppressed  communities,  are  always  found  in  possession  of 
herds  of  goats  so  numerous  that  they  might  be  described  as 
inexhaustible.  Many  days'  journey  to  the  south  and  south- 
east of  Munza's  realms  are  tlie  abodes  of  the  Maoggoo,  over 
whom  a  powerful  sovereign  exercises  his  authority,  and  who 
seems  to  have  various  transactions  with  Munza,  if  I  may 
judge  from  the  splendid  cattle  which  had  been  sent  him  as  a 
present.  Maoggoo  is  not  improbably  the  same  as  Malegga, 
the  appellation  of  a  people,  which  appears  in  Baker's  map  to 
the  west  of  the  Blue  Mountains  in  an  extensive  country 
(Ulegga),  of  which  it  is  affirmed  that  the  king  is  named 
Kadjoro,  and  that  the  population  is  especially  devoted  to  the 
breeding  of  cattle. 

Having  thus  minutely  taken  a  survey  of  the  surroundings 
of  the  Monbuttoo,  we  may  in  the  next  place  proceed  to 
observe  the  land  itself,  regarding  it  as  the  substance  of  the 
picture  of  which  we  have  been  thus  accurately  surveying 
the  background. 

The  Monbuttoo  land  greets  us  as  an  Eden  upon  earth. 
Unnumbered  groves  of  plantains  bedeck  the  gently-heaving 
soil;  oii-palms,  incomparable  in  beauty,  and  other  monarchs 
of  the  stately  woods,  rise  up  and  spread  their  glory  over 
tlie  favoured    scene;    along    the   streams  there  is  a  briglit 


86  THE  HEART  OF  AFRICA. 

expanse  of  charming  verdure,  whilst  a  grateful  shadow  ever 
overhangs  the  domes  of  the  idyllic  huts.  The  general 
altitude  of  the  soil  ranges  from  2500  to  2800  feet  above 
the  level  of  the  sea :  it  consists  of  alternate  depressions, 
along  which  the  rivulets  make  their  way,  and  gentle 
elevations,  which  gradually  rise  till  they  are  some  hundred 
feet  above  the  beds  of  the  streams  below.  Upon  the  whole 
the  soil  may  be  described  as  far  more  diversified  in  character 
than  what  is  observed  in  the  eastern  parts  of  the  Niam- 
niam  land.  Like  it  is  there,  it  is  rich  in  springs,  wherever 
there  are  depressions,  and  in  a  network  of  "  desaguaderos  " 
associated  with  the  watercourses,  and  justifies  the  comparison 
that  has  already  been  suggested  between  the  entire  land  and 
a  well-soaked  sponge,  which  yields  countless  streams  to  the 
pressure  of  the  hand.  Belonging  to  one  of  the  most  recent 
formations,  and  still  in  process  of  construction,  the  ferru- 
ginous swamp-ore  is  found  very  widely  diffused  over  the 
Monbuttoo  country,  and  indeed  extends  considerably  farther 
to  the  south,  so  that  the  red  earth  appears  to  be  nearly 
universal  over  the  greater  part  of  the  highlands  of  Central 
Africa.  The  denser  population  has  involved,  as  might  be 
expected,  more  frequent  clearances  for  the  sake  of  establish- 
ing plantain  groves,  and  promoting  the  culture  of  maize  and 
sugar-canes,  but  even  here  in  the  deeper  valleys  trees  grow 
to  such  a  prodigious  height,  and  exhibit  such  an  enormous 
girth,  that  they  could  not  be  surpassed  by  any  that  could  be 
found  throughout  the  entire  Nile  region  of  the  north.  Be- 
neath the  imposing  shelter  of  these  giants  other  forms  grow 
up  and,  rising  one  above  another,  stand  in  mingled  confusion. 
In  its  external  and  general  aspect  the  country  corresponds 
with  the  description  which  Speke  has  given  of  Uganda  ;  but 
the  customs  of  the  inhabitants  of  that  land,  their  difference 
of  race,  and  their  seclusion  from  all  intercourse  with  com- 
mercial nations  stamp  them  as  being  of  a  type  which  is  of 
a  very  contrasted  character. 


MONBUTTOO  PRODUCE.  87 

It  seems  almost  to  involve  a  contradiction  to  give  the  title 
of  agriculturists  to  a  people  whose  existence  indeed  depends 
upon  the  easy  securing  of  fruits  and  tubers,  but  who  abhor 
the  trouble  of  growing  cereals.  Sorghum  and  penicillaria, 
which  are  the  common  food  of  the  population  in  nearly  the 
whole  of  Central  Africa,  are  absolutely  uncared  for  amongst 
the  Monbuttoo;  eleusine  is  only  grown  occasionally,  and 
maize,  which  is  known  as  "  Nendoh,"  is  cultivated  quite  as 
an  exception  in  the  immediate  proximity  of  their  dwellings, 
where  it  is  treated  as  a  garden  vegetable.  The  growth  of 
their  plantain  (Musa  sapientium)  gives  them  very  little 
trouble ;  the  young  shoots  are  stuck  in  the  ground  after  it 
has  been  slackened  by  the  rain ;  the  old  plants  are  suffered 
to  die  down  just  as  they  are ;  and  this  is  all  the  cultivation 
that  is  vouchsafed.  In  the  propagation  of  these  plantains, 
however,  the  Monbuttoo  have  a  certain  knack  of  discrimi- 
nation for  which  they  might  be  envied  by  any  EurojDean 
gardener :  they  can  judge  whether  a  young  shoot  is  capable 
of  bearing  fruit  or  not,  and  this  gives  them  an  immense  ad- 
vantage in  selecting  only  such  shoots  as  are'worth  the  trouble 
of  planting.  They  are  not  accustomed  to  bestow  any  greater 
amount  of  attention  to  the  planting  either  of  the  tubers  of 
their  manioc  (or  cassava),  their  sweet-potatoes,  their  yams 
(neggoo),  or  their  colocasise.  A  very  limited  range  of  plants 
embraces  the  whole  of  what  they  take  the  pains  to  cultivate, 
and  that  cultivation  is  all  accomplished  in  the  narrowest 
bounds.  The  entire  produce  is  summed  up  in  their  sesame 
(mbellemoh),  their  earth-nuts,  their  sugar-canes,  and  espe- 
cially their  tobacco.  The  Virginian  tobacco  is  the  only  kind 
which  is  seen ;  it  is  called  Eh  Tobboo,  its  name  betraying  its 
American  origin.  The  Nicotiana  rustica,  which  is  of  such 
constant  growth  amongst  the  Bongo,  Dyoor,  and  Dinka,  is 
here  entirely  unknown. 

Very   little  care,  moreover,  is  given  to  the  sugar-cane, 
which  may  be  found  amid  the  thinned  woods  that  line  the 


88  THE  HEART  OF  AFRICA. 

banks  of  the  rivers.  It  is  grown  only  as  a  sort  of  delicacy, 
beiug  found  nowhere  in  any  great  quantity,  and  its  quality  is 
far  from  good.  One  ever-thriving  supply,  which  is  of  the 
utmost  importance  for  maintaining  the  population,  is  pro- 
vided in  all  the  valleys  by  the  cassava  {Manihot  utilissima) ; 
but  the  cultivation  of  the  sweet-potato,  equally  extensive  as 
it  is,  demands  a  somewhat  more  careful  attention,  requiring 
the  sunny  soil  of  the  upper  slopes  of  the  valleys  above  the 
line  of  the  plantain  groves  and  nearest  to  the  edge  of  the 
depressions.  Both  sweet-potatoes  and  cassava  here  attain 
the  very  fullest  standard  of  perfectiou,  as  far  as  regards 
either  size  or  quality.  But  the  staple  food  is  the  plantain. 
This  is  generally  gathered  in  a  green  condition,  dried,  ground 
into  meal,  and  boiled  to  a  pulp ;  occasionally,  but  not  so 
often,  it  is  dried  after  it  is  ripe  for  the  purpose  of  being  kept 
for  a  longer  time.  Very  few  countries  of  the  world  have  a 
soil  and  atmosphere  so  favourable  as  these  for  insuring  the 
abundant  produce  of  this  serviceable  plant.  The  fruit  when 
dried  is  a  very  choice  delicacy,  but  any  fermented  drink 
made  from  plantains  I  found  to  be  almost  unknown  among 
the  Monbuttoo. 

Owing  to  the  thorough  isolation  in  which  the  Monbuttoo 
have  lived,  holding  no  intercourse  with  Mohammedan  or 
Christian  nations,  the  art  of  weaving  has  not  found  its  way 
amongst  them,  and  woven  material  .is  consequently  nowhere 
to  be  seen.  Their  clothing,  as  in  many  other  regions  of 
Central  Africa,  is  contributed  by  their  fig-trees  {U7'ostigrma 
KotscJiyana),  of  which  the  bast  from  the  bark,  with  the  help 
of  some  strings  and  shreds,  is  worked  into  a  substantial  and 
enduring  fabric.  Hardly  a  hut  can  be  seen  that  is  without 
its  own  fig-trees,  which,  however,  will  not  grow  without  due 
care  and  cultivation.  The  people  are  never  known  to  wear 
skins  attached  to  their  girdles  after  the  fashion  of  the  Niam- 
niam ;  the  only  occasion  when  skins  are  worn  being  ^\  hen 
they  are  made  into  a  fancy  dress  for  dancers. 


MONBUTTOO  HUNTING.  89 

On  tlie  south  of  the  Welle  there  is  a  very  extensive  culti- 
vation of  the  oil-palm  {Elais  guineends).  It  is  a  tree  that, 
although  common  to  the  west  coasts,  has  not  hitherto  been 
found  in  the  Nile  districts,  and  consequently,  like  the  cola- 
.uuts,  which  the  wealthier  of  the  Monbuttoo  are  accustomed 
to  chew,  it  yields  a  significant  evidence  of  the  western  asso- 
ciations of  the  people. 

Eveiy  kind  of  cattle-breeding  is  quite  unfamiliar  to  them  ; 
and  if  the  common  little  dogs  known  as  the  "  nessy  "  of  the 
Niam-niam  breed  be  excepted,  and  no  account  be  taken  of 
their  poultry  ("  naahle  "),  the  Monbuttoo  may  be  said  to  be 
absolutely  without  domestic  animals  at  all.  In  a  half  tame 
state  they  keep,  as  I  have  said,  the  potamochoerus,  which  is 
their  only  representative  of  the  swine  family.  From  the 
marauding  excursions  with  which  they  harass  their  southern 
neighbours  they  bring  back  a  prodigious  number  of  goats, 
but  they  make  no  attempt  to  rear  them  for  themselves. 
Their  hunting  expeditions  supply  them  with  meat  enough 
for  their  requirements,  their  taste  leading  them  to  give  the 
preference  to  the  flesh  of  elephants,  buffaloes,  wild  boars, 
and  the  larger  kinds  of  antelopes.  Although  the  denseness 
of  the  population  precludes  any  such  increase  of  game  of 
this  kind  as  is  universal  in  the  more  northern  and  less 
cultivated  regions  of  Central  Africa,  yet  the  yield  of  theh 
chase  would  be  adequate  for  their  own  wants,  because  the 
abundance  of  their  supply  at  certain  seasons  is  very  great, 
and  they  have  the  art  of  preserving  it  so  that  it  remains  fit 
for  food  for  a  very  considerable  time.  With  this  fact  capable 
of  being  substantiated,  it  is  altogether  a  fallacy  to  pretend  to 
represent  that  the  Monbuttoo  are  driven  to  cannibalism 
through  the  lack  of  ordinary  meat.  To  judge  from  Munza's 
accumulated  store  of  ivory,  which  is  the  result  of  the  com- 
bined exploits  of  all  the  men  in  his  dominions  capable  of 
bearing  arms,  the  provision  of  elephant's  meat  alone  must 
be  sufficient  to  keep  his  people  amply  supplied.     Nor  should 


90  THE  HEART  OF  AFRICA. 

the  immense  quantity  of  poultry  be  forgotten,  as  there  is 
hardly  a  dwelling  that  is  not  conspicuous  for  having  a  con- 
siderable stock,  in  the  same  way  as  dogs  are  an  especial 
subject  of  interest  amongst  the  Niam-niam,  who  have  a  very 
decided  partiality  for  the  flesh  of  that  animal. 

A  bird  very  common  in  the  Monbuttoo  lands  is  the  grey 
parrot  (Psittacus  erythacus),  which  is  very  eagerly  sought  by 
the  natives,  who  not  only  adorn  their  heads  with  the  bright 
red.  feathers  from  its  tail,  but  have  a  great  relish  for  its 
savoury  flesh.  Other  sport  in  the  way  of  birds  is  very  incon- 
siderable, guinea-fowls,  francolins,  and  bustards  being  all 
caught  by  means  of  snares.  The  herb  Tephrosia  Vogelii*  is 
cultivated  in  nearly  all  the  villages  for  the  purpose  of 
poisoning  fish,  and  the  fish  that  is  thus  secured  forms  a  very 
considerable  addition  to  the  supply  of  food. 

Whilst  the  women  attend  to  the  tillage  of  the  soil  and  the 
gathering  of  the  harvest,  the  men,  except  they  are  absent 
either  for  war  or  hunting,  spend  the  entire  day  in  idleness. 
In  the  early  houi's  of  the  morning  they  may  be  found  under 
the  shade  of  the  oil-palms,  lounging  at  full  length  upon  their 
carved  benches  and  smoking  tobacco.  During  the  middle  of 
the  day  they  gossip  with  their  friends  in  the  cool  halls,  which 
serve  for  general  concourse,  where  they  may  be  seen  gesticu- 
lating vigorously  to  give  full  force  to  their  sentiments.  The 
action  of  the  Monbuttoo  ia  speaking  exhibits  several  singu- 
larities, as,  for  example,  their  manner  of  expressing  astonish- 
ment by  putting  their  hand  before  their  open  mouth,  very 
much  in  the  same  way  as  a  person  does  when  he  is  gaping. 
It  has  been  said  that  the  North  American  Indians  have  the 
habit  of  showing  their  surprise  in  the  same  way. 

Smiths'  work,  of  course,  is  done  by  the  men,  but,  just  as  in 
most  other  parts  of  Africa,  the  pottery  is  exclusively  made  by 


*  A  kindred  plant  of  this  genus  is  used  in  the  West  Indies,  where  the 
practico  is  generally  carried  on  by  slaves. 


MONBUTTO)  WOMEN.  91 

the  women.  Wood-carving  and  basket-weaving  are  per- 
formed indifferently  by  either  sex.  Musical  instruments  are 
not  touched  by  the  women. 

The  universal  form  of  salutation  consists  in  holding  out 
the  right  hand,  and  saying,  "  Gassiggy,"  and  at  the  same  time 
cracking  the  joints  of  the  middle  fingers. 

The  two  sexes  conduct  themselves  towards  each  other  with 
an  excessive  freedom.  The  women  in  this  respect  are  very 
different  to  the  modest  and  retiring  women  of  the  Niam- 
niam,  and  are  beyond  measure  obtrusive  and  familiar. 
Their  inquisitiveness  was  a  daily  nuisance :  they  watched 
me  into  the  depth  of  the  woods,  they  pestered  me  by  flock- 
ing round  my  tent,  and  it  Avas  a  difficult  matter  to  get  a 
bath  without  being  stared  at.  Towards  their  husbands  they 
exhibit  the  highest  degree  of  independence.  The  position 
in  the  household  occupied  by  the  men  was  illustrated  by  the 
reply  which  would  be  made  if  they  were  solicited  to  sell 
anything  as  a  curiosity,  "  Oh,  ask  my  wife  :  it  is  hers." 

Polygamy  is  unlimited.  The  daily  witness  of  the  Nubians 
only  too  plainly  testified  that  fidelity  to  the  obligations  of 
marriage  was  little  known.  Not  a  few  of  the  women  were 
openly  obscene.  Their  general  demeanour  surprised  me 
very  much  when  I  considered  the  comparative  advance  of 
their  race  in  the  arts  of  civilization.  Their  immodesty  far 
surpassed  anything  that  1  had  observed  in  the  very  lowest  of 
the  negro  tribes,  and  contrasted  most  unfavourably  with  the 
sobriety  of  the  Bongo  women,  who  are  submissive  to  their 
husbands  and  yet  not  servile.  The  very  scantiness  of  the 
clothing  of  the  Monbuttoo  women  has  no  excuse. 

Carved  benches  are  the  ordinary  seats  of  the  men,  but  the 
women  generally  use  stools  that  have  but  one  foot.  On 
the  occasion  of  paying  a  visit  or  going  to  a  public  gather- 
ing the  men  make  their  slaves  carry  their  benches  for  them, 
as  it  is  their  custom  never  to  sit  upon  the  ground,  not  even 
when  it  has  been  covered  with  mats. 


92  THE  HEART  OF  AFRICA. 

The  care  that  is  given  to  the  preparation  of  their  food  is 
very  considerable,  and  betokens  their  higher  grade  of  culture. 
The  unripe  produce  of  the  plantain  and  the  manioc,  that 
in  all  districts  is  ready  at  their  hand  without  the  trouble  of 
cultivation,  make  good  the  deficiency  of  corn.  Their  mode 
of  treating  manioc  is  precisely  the  same  as  that  which  is 
adopted  in  South  America  for  the  purpose  of  extracting  the 
fine  flour  called  tapioca.  For  spices  they  make  use  of  the 
capsicum,  the  malaghetta  pepper,  and  the  fruit  of  two 
hitherto  unspecified  Solanese,  and  for  which  I  regret  that  I 
cannot  select  the  name  of  S.  anthroj^ojphagorum,  because  it  has 
been  already  assigned  to  the  "cannibal  salad"  of  the  Fiji 
Islanders.  The  flavour  of  both  these  is  very  revolting,  having 
a  detestable  twang,  something  between  a  tomato  and  a 
melongena.  Mushrooms  are  also  in  common  use  for  the 
preparation  of  their  sauces. 

All  their  food  is  prepared  by  the  admixture  of  oil  from 
the  oil-palms.  In  its  unpurified  condition  when  first  ex- 
pressed from  the  pods,  this  oil  is  of  a  bright  red  colour,  and 
of  a  somewhat  thick  consistency ;  for  a  few  days  it  has  an 
agreeable  taste,  which,  however,  soon  passes  off  and  leaves  a 
decided  rankness.  By  subsequently  submitting  the  kernels 
to  fire,  a  coarse,  inflammable  oil  is  obtained,  which  is  used 
for  the  purpose  of  lighting  their  huts.  Other  vegetable  oils 
in  considerable  abundance  are  obtained  from  earth-nuts, 
from  sesame,  and  from  the  fruit  of  a  forest-tree,  Lophira 
alata.  From  the  fat  thick  bodies  of  the  male  white  ants 
they  boil  out  a  greasy  substance  which  is  bright  and  trans- 
parent, and  has  a  taste  perfectly  unobjectionable. 

But  of  most  universal  employment  amongst  them  is  human 
fat,  and  this  brings  our  observations  to  the  climax  of  their 
culinary  practices.  The  cannibalism  of  the  Monbuttoo  is  the 
most  pronounced  of  all  the  known  nations  of  Africa.  Sur- 
rounded as  they  are  by  a  number  of  people  who  are  blacker 
than  themselves,  and  who,  being  inferior  to  them  in  culture, 


MONBUTTOO  CANNIBALISE!.  93 

are  consequently  held  in  great  contempt,  they  have  just  the 
opportunity  which  they  want  for  carrying  on  expeditions  of 
war  or  plunder,  which  result  in  the  acquisition  of  a  booty, 
which  is  especially  coveted  by  them,  consisting  of  human 
flesh.  The  carcases  of  all  who  fall  in  battle  are  distributed 
upon  the  battle-field,  and  are  prepared  by  drying  for  trans- 
port to  the  homes  of  the  conquerors.  They  drive  their 
prisoners  before  them  without  remorse,  as  butchers  would 
drive  sheep  to  the  shambles,  and  these  are  only  reserved  to 
fall  victims  on  a  later  day  to  their  -horrible  and  sickening 
greediness.  During  our  residence  at  the  court  of  Munza  the 
general  rumour  was  quite  current  that  nearly  every  day 
some  little  child  was  sacrificed  to  supply  his  meal.  It 
would  hardly  be  expected  that  many  opportunities  should 
be  afforded  to  strangers  of  witnessing  the  natives  at  their 
repast,  and  to  myself  there  occurred  only  two  instances 
when  I  came  upon  any  of  them  whilst  they  were  actually 
engaged  in  preparing  human  flesh  for  consumption.  The 
first  of  these  happened  by  my  coming  unexpectedly  upon 
a  number  of  young  women  who  had  a  supply  of  boiling 
water  upon  the  clay  floor  in  front  of  the  doorway  of  a  hut, 
and  were  engaged  in  the  task  of  scalding  the  hair  off  the 
lower  half  of  a  human  body.  The  operation,  as  far  as  it  was 
effected,  had  changed  the  black  skin  into  a  fawny  grey,  and 
the  disgusting  sight  could  not  fail  to  make  me  think  of  the 
soddening  and  scouring  of  our  fatted  swine.  On  another 
occasion  I  was  in  a  hut  and  observed  a  human  arm  hanging 
over  the  fire,  obviously  with  the  design  of  being  at  once  dried 
and  smoked. 

Incontrovertible  tokens  and  indirect  evidences  of  the 
prevalence  of  cannibalism  were  constantly  turning  up  at 
every  step  we  took.  On  one  occasion  Mohammed  and 
myself  were  in  Munza's  company,  and  Mohammed  de- 
signedly turned  the  conversation  to  the  topic  of  human 
flesh,  and  put  the  direct  question  to  the  king  how  it  hap- 


94  THE  HEART  OF  AFEICA. 

pened  that  just  at  this  precise  time  while  we  were  in  the 
country  there  was  no  consumption  of  human  food.  Munza 
expressly  said  that  being  aware  that  such  a  practice  was 
held  in  aversion  by  us,  he  had  taken  care  that  it  should  only 
be  carried  on  in  secret. 

As  I  have  said,  there  was  no  opportunity  for  strangers  to 
observe  the  habits  of  the  Monbuttoo  at  their  meals ;  the 
Bongo  and  Mittoo  of  our  caravan  were  carefully  excluded 
by  them  as  being  uncircumcised,  and  therefore  reckoned  as 
"  savages ; "  whilst  the  religious  scruples  of  the  Nubians 
prevented  them  from  even  partaking  of  any  food  in  common 
with  cannibals.  Nevertheless  the  instances  that  I  have  men- 
tioned are  in  themselves  sufficient  to  show  that  the  Monbuttoo 
are  far  more  addicted  to  cannibalism  than  their  hunting 
neighbours,  the  Niam-niam.  They  do  not  constitute  the 
first  example  of  anthropophagi  who  are  in  a  far  higher 
grade  of  culture  than  many  savages  who  persistently  re- 
pudiate the  enjoyment  of  human  flesh  (for  example,  the 
Fiji  Islanders  and  the  Caraibs).  It  is  needless  for  me  to 
recount  the  personal  experiences  of  the  Nubian  mercenaries 
who  have  accompanied  the  Monbuttoo  on  their  marauding 
expeditions,  or  to  describe  how  these  people  obtain  their 
human  fat,  or  again  to  detail  the  processes  of  cutting  the 
flesh  into  long  strips  and  drying  it  over  the  fire  in  its  pre- 
paration for  consumption.  The  numerous  skulls  now  in  the 
Anatomical  Museum  in  Berlin  are  simply  the  remains  of 
their  repasts  which  I  purchased  one  after  another  for  bits 
of  copper,  and  go  far  to  prove  that  the  cannibalism  of  the 
Monbuttoo  is  unsurpassed  by  any  nation  in  the  world.  But 
with  it  all,  the  Monbuttoo  are  a  noble  race  of  men;  men 
who  display  a  certain  national  pride,  and  are  endowed  with 
an  intellect  and  judgment  such  as  few  natives  of  the  African 
wilderness  can  boast ;  men  to  whom  one  may  put  a  reason- 
able question,  and  who  wall  return  a  reasonable  answer.  The 
Nubians  can  never  say  enough  in  praise  of  their  faithfulness 


A  MONBUTTOO  AMAZOX.  95 

in  friendly  intercourse  and  of  the  order  and  stability  of  their 
national  life.  According  to  the  Nubians,  too,  the  Monbuttoo 
were  their  superiors  in  the  arts  of  war,  and  I  often  heard  the 
resident  soldiers  contending  with  their  companions  and  say- 
ing, "  Well,  perhaps  you  are  not  afraid  of  the  IMonbuttoo,  but 
1  confess  that  I  am ;  and  I  can  tell  you  they  are  something 
to  be  afraid  of." 

As  matter  of  fact  the  Khartoom  traders,  some  years  before, 
had  had  a  definite  trial  of  arms  wnth  the  Monbuttoo.  Shortly 
after  his  accession  to  power,  Munza  had  of  his  own  accord 
and  by  a  special  embassy  invited  Aboo  Sammat  to  extend 
his  transactions  beyond  their  present  limits  in  Nganye's  and 
Wando's  territories ;  but  in  the  year  previous  to  that,  the 
Nubian  merchant  Abderahman  Aboo  Guroon,  having  en- 
deavoured to  penetrate  from  Keefa's  dominions  into  the 
Monbuttoo  lands,  was  attacked  on  the  north  of  the  Welle 
by  the  IMonbuttoo  forces,  who  opposed  his  advances  upon 
their  territory.  At  that  time  jMunza's  father,  Tikkiboh, 
had  absolute  rule  in  the  country,  and  the  achievements  of 
his  daughter  Nalengbe,  a  sister  of  the  present  king,  are  still 
fresh  in  the  memory  of  all  who  were  present  at  the  engage- 
ment ;  eye-witnesses  gave  me  detailed  accounts  of  the  exploits 
of  this  veritable  Amazon,  whom  I  have  mentioned  before, 
and  related  how,  in  full  armour,  with  shield  and  lance,  and 
girded  with  the  rokko  apron  of  a  man,  she  had  with  the 
utmost  bravery  led  on  the  Monbuttoo  troops,  who  then  for 
the  first  time  came  in  contact  with  firearms;  and  how  her 
exertions  were  attended  with  a  complete  success,  the  adven- 
turous Aboo  Guroon  being  repulsed  with  considerable  loss, 
and  forced  to  relinquish  altogether  his  design  of  entering 
the  country.  In  the  following  year,  1867,  Mohammed  Aboo 
Sammat,  invited  as  I  have  said  by  the  king  himself,  crossed 
the  Welle  and  entered  the  land,  thus,  as  the  first  explorer, 
opening  the  ivory  trafiic  under  conditions  of  peace,  which 
have  ever  since  remained  undisturbed. 

Vol.  II.— 8 


96  THE  HEART  OF  AFRICA. 

The  Monbnttoo  potentates  enjoy  far  higher  prerogatives 
than  the  Niam-niam  princes.  Besides  the  monopoly  of  the 
ivory,  they  claim  regular  contributions  from  the  products  of 
the  soil.  In  addition  to  his  special  body-guard,  the  sovereign 
is  always  surrounded  by  a  large  body  of  courtiers,  whilst  an 
immense  number  of  civil  officers  and  local  overseers  main- 
tain the  regal  dignity  in  the  various  districts  of  the  land. 
Munza's  three  brothers,  Izingerria,  Mummery,  and  Nooma, 
perform  the  office  of  viceroys,  and  subordinate  to  these  again 
are  sub-chieftains  of  the  second  rank,  who  act  as  governors  of 
provinces. 

Next  in  rank  to  the  sub-chieftains,  who  are  generally 
chosen  from  the  numerous  members  of  the  blood-royal,  are 
the  principal  officers  of  state.  These  are  five  in  number : 
the  keeper  of  the  weapons,  the  master  of  the  ceremonies,  the 
superintendent  of  the  commissariat  stores,  the  master  of  the 
household  to  the  royal  ladies,  and  the  interpreter  for  inter- 
course with  strangers  and  foreign  rulers. 

Munza  never  leaves  his  residence  without  being  accom- 
panied by  several  hundred  of  his  retinue,  and,  in  token  of 
his  dignity,  a  long  array  of  drummers,  trumpeters,  and 
couriers  with  great  iron  bells  aro  sent  at  the  head  of  the 
procession.  The  harem,  in  the  immediate  vicinity  of  the 
palace,  consists  of  eighty  young  ladies,  who,  with  theii- 
attendant  women  slaves,  occupy  as  many  huts  erected  in 
a  wide  circuit  within  the  precincts  of  the  royal  halls  and 
private  apartments.  Enclosed  by  these  huts  is  a  smooth 
and  ample  space,  where  the  well-trodden  red  soil  offers  a 
fine  contrast  to  the  deep  green  foliage  of  the  groups  of  oil- 
palms,  bread-fruit  trees,  cordise,  trumpet-trees,  urostigmae, 
and  other  trees  by  which  it  is  overshadowed.  Munza  holds 
his  councils  in  the  great  halls,  and  on  appointed  days  grants 
audiences,  and  occasionally  gives  one  of  the  extensive  feasts, 
accompanied  by  music  and  dancing,  such  as  I  have  already 
described. 


THE  ROYAL  WIVES.  97 

The  royal  ladies  are  divided,  according  to  age  and  seniority, 
into  several  classes.  The  elder  matrons  occupy  villages 
built  for  their  accommodation  at  some  distance  from  the 
residence;  their  number  amounts  to  several  hundred,  for, 
besides  his  own  wives  of  the  first  and  second  rank,  Munza 
is  bound  to  maintain  the  ladies  inherited  from  his  father, 
and  even  those  belonging  to  a  deceased  brother.  It  is  a 
long-established  African  custom  that  at  a  king's  death  his 
wives  should  fall  to  the  lot  of  his  successor,  who  never  fails 
to  annex  to  their  number  a  large  addition  of  his  own.  In 
the  sixteenth  century  the  \\ives  of  the  King  of  Loango  were 
estimated  at  7000. 

Whenever  at  night  the  king  leaves  his  private  apartments 
to  visit  his  wives,  the  place  re-echoes  with  the  shouts  of  the 
courtiers,  accompanied  by  the  strains  of  horns  and  kettle- 
drums, and  then,  too,  may  be  heard  the  Monbuttoo  hymn, 
"  Ee,  ee,  Munza,  tchuppy,  tchuppy,  ee."  Eye-witnesses  state 
that  the  king  spends  his  night  in  passing  from  one  hut  to 
another,  and  without  favouring  any  with  an  especially  long 
visit ;  but  it  is  all  done  in  the  strictest  incognito  and  under 
cover  of  the  darkness.  Besides  the  courtiers,  the  royal 
household  contains  many  officials  appointed  to  some  pecu- 
liar functions;  there  are  the  private  musicians,  trumpeters 
and  buglers,  whose  productions  testify  to  the  time  and  labour 
spent  upon  their  acquirement ;  there  are  eunuchs  and  jesters, 
ballad-singers  and  dancers,  who  combine  to  increase  the  splen- 
dour of  the  court,  and  to  provide  general  amusement  for  the 
festal  gatherings.  In  addition  to  these  there  are  numbers  of 
stewards,  who  keep  order  at  the  feasts  and,  by  a  free  use 
of  their  rods,  restrain  the  over-obtrusiveness  of  the  younger 
portion  of  tlie  community. 

The  king's  private  residence  consists  of  a  group  of  several 
large  huts,  each  of  which  is  set  apart  for  one  of  his  daily 
occupations.  They  are  enclosed,  like  a  Seriba,  with  a  pali- 
sade, and  are  shaded  by  plantations  of  well-kept  trees.     The 


98  THE  HEART  OF  AFRICA. 

king's  food  is  always  prepared  by  one  of  his  wives,  who 
perform  the  office  in  turn,  relieving  one  an  other  at  stated 
intervals.  Munza  invariably  takes  his  meals  in  private  ;  no 
one  may  see  the  contents  of  his  dish,  and  everything  that  he 
leaves  is  carefully  thrown  into  a  pit  set  apart  for  that  pur- 
pose. All  that  the  king  has  handled  is  held  as  sacred,  and 
may  not  be  touched  ;  and  a  guest,  though  of  the  highest 
rank,  may  not  so  much  as  light  his  pipe  with  an  ember  from 
the  fire  that  burns  before  his  throne.  Any  similar  attempt 
AV'ould  be  considered  as  high  treason  and  punished  with 
immediate  death. 

As  permission  was  granted  me  to  inspect  the  internal 
arrangements  of  the  royal  palace,  I  was  enabled  to  survey 
the  whole  series  of  huts.  The  king's  wardrobe  alone  occupied 
several  apartments.  In  one  room  I  saw  nothing  but  hats 
and  feathers  of  every  variety,  special  value  being  laid  upon 
the  red  parrot's  feathers,  which  are  arranged  in  great  round 
tufts.  One  hut  there  was  in  which  were  suspended  whole 
bundles  of  the  tails  of  civets,  genets,  potamochoeri,  and 
giraffes,  together  with  skins  and  thousands  of  the  ornaments 
with  which  the  king  was  accustomed  to  adorn  his  person. 
I  observed  also  long  strings  of  the  teeth  of  rare  animals 
captured  in  the  chase.  One  ornament  alone,  composed  of 
more  than  a  hundred  lions'  fangs,  must  have  been  a  costly 
heirloom  to  be  handed  on  from  father  to  son.  For  the  first 
time  I  noticed  the  skin  of  the  Galago  Demidoffi,  an  animal 
hitherto  only  observed  in  Western  Africa. 

A  little  conical  hut  that  I  was  shown  was  set  apart  for 
the  privacy  of  the  royal  retiring-room,  the  only  one  of  the 
kind  that  I  came  across  in  Central  Africa.  The  internal 
arrangements  of  this  corresponded  exactly  with  what  is 
seen  in  Turkish  dwelling-houses.  The  heathen  negroes  are 
generally  more  observant  of  decorum  in  this  respect  than 
any  Mohammedan. 

On  another  occasion  I  was  conducted  through  the  armoury. 


MONBUTTOO  CIVILIZATION.  99 

The  store  of  weapons  consisted  principally  of  lances  tied  up 
in  bundles  of  two  or  three  hundred  together,  which  in  times 
of  war  are  distributed  amongst  the  fighting  force ;  there  are 
also  piles  of  the  knives  and  daggers  which  are  borne  by  Mon- 
buttoo  warriors.  In  the  same  place  were  kept  the  orna- 
mental weapons  which  are  used  for  decorating  the  royal  halls 
on  festal  occasions,  consisting  for  the  most  part  of  immense 
spears,  formed  head  and  shaft  alike  of  pure  copper,  and 
brightly  polished. 

The  storehouses  and  corn-magazines  were  provided  with 
well-qaade,  water-tight  roofs,  and  Munza  spends  a  portion  of 
every  day  in  the  several  sections,  personally  superintending 
the  distribution  and  arrangement  of  the  stores. 

From  these  details  it  may  be  understood  that  the  Monbuttoo 
are  subject  to  a  monarchical  government  of  an  importance 
beyond  the  average  of  those  of  Central  Africa;  and  in  its 
institutions  it  appears  to  correspond  with  the  descriptions  of 
negro  empires  long  since  passed  away.  The  half  mythical 
empire  of  the  powerful  Mwata  Yanvo,  whose  influence  doubt- 
less extended  to  the  Monbuttoo  lands,  may  probably,  to  a 
certain  extent,  have  furnished  the  type  for  many  of  these, 
institutions ;  but  be  that  as  it  may,  it  is  an  indisputable  fact, 
that  of  all  the  known  nations  of  Central  Africa  the  Monbuttoo, 
without  any  influence  from  the  Mohammedan  or  Christian 
world,  have  attained  to  no  contemptible  degree  of  external 
culture,  and  their  leading  characteristics  prove  th^em  to 
belong  to  a  group  of  nations  which  inhabit  the  inmost  heart 
of  Africa,  and  which  are  being  now  embraced  in  the  enlarg- 
ing circle  of  geographical  knowledge.  The  land  of  the 
Manuyema,  visited  by  Livingstone,  and  the  states  of  Mwata 
Yanvo,  frequented  by  the  Portuguese  traders,  form  re- 
spectively the  south-western  and  south-eastern  limits  of  this 
immense  territory,  which  in  area  surpasses  half  of  European 
Russia. 

In  turning  to  the  national  characteristics  of  this  people, 


100  THE  HEART  OF  AFRICA. 

we  may  notice  in  the  first  place  that  their  complexion  is  of  a 
lighter  tint  than  that  of  almost  all  the  known  nations  of 
Central  Africa,  the  colour  of  whose  skins  may  be  generally 
compared,  by  the  test  I  have  frequently  adopted,  to  that  of 
ground  cofiee.  It  is  this  peculiai'ity  that  forms  a  great  dis- 
tinction between  the  Monbuttoo  and  the  Niam-niam,  whose 
complexions  are  more  aptly  compared  to  cakes  of  chocolate 
or  ripe  olives.  It  cannot  fail  to  strike  the  traveller  as 
remarkable  that  in  all  African  nations  he  meets  with  indi- 
viduals with  black,  red,  and  yellow  complexions,  whilst  the 
yellow  tribes  of  Asia  and  the  copper-coloured  tribes  of 
America  each  present  a  remarkable  uniformity  in  the  tone 
and  shade  of  their  skins.  Barth  observed  this  peculiarity 
among  the  Marghi ;  he  noticed  some  individuals  who  were 
quite  black,  and  others  who  had  coppery-red  skins,  or,  as  he 
describes  them,  rhubarb-coloured,  in  distinction  to  those 
which  he  compared  to  chocolat-au-lait.  His  supposition  that 
an  intermingling  of  races  was  the  sole  cause  of  this  diversity  of 
complexion  is  probably  incorrect,  as  it  appears  to  be  a  charac- 
teristic of  the  entire  series  of  the  red-skinned  races  of  Africa. 
«  The  Monbuttoo  have  less  fulness  of  muscle  than  the  Niam- 
niam,  without,  however,  any  appearance  of  debility.  The 
growth  of  the  hair  is  much  the  same,  and  the  beard  is  much 
more  developed  than  that  of  the  Niam-niam. 

But  there  is  one  special  characteristic  that  is  quite  peculiar 
to  the  Monbuttoo.  To  judge  from  the  hundreds  who  paid 
visits  of  curiosity  to  my  tent,  and  from  the  thousands  whom 
[  saw  during  my  three  weeks'  sojourn  with  Munza,  I  should 
say  that  at  least  five  per  cent,  of  the  population  have  light 
hair.  This  was  always  of  the  closely  frizzled  quality  of  the 
negro  type,  and  was  always  associated  with  the  lightest  skins 
that  I  had  seen  since  leaving  Lower  Egypt.  Its  colour  was 
by  no  means  like  that  which  is  termed  light  hair  amongst 
ourselves,  but  was  of  a  mongrel  tint  mixed  with  grey,  sug- 
gesting the  comparison  to  hemp.     All  the  individuals  who 


PHYSIOLOGICAL  SPECULATION.  101 

had  this  light  hair  and  complexion  had  a  sickly  expression 
about  the  eyes,  and  presented  many  signs  of  pronounced 
albinism  ;  they  recalled  a  description  given  by  Isaac  Vossius, 
in  his  book  upon  the  origin  of  the  Nile,  of  the  white  men  he 
saw  at  the  court  of  the  King  of  Loango :  he  says  that  "  they 
were  sickly-looking  and  wan  of  countenance,  with  their  eyes 
drawn  as  though  they  were  squinting."  In  the  previous 
chapter  I  have  given  a  similar  description  of  one  of  the  king's 
sons,  named  Bunza.  This  combination  of  light  hair  and  skin 
gives  the  Monbuttoo  a  position  distinct  from  all  the  nations 
of  the  northern  part  of  Africa,  with  the  single  exception  of 
the  various  inhabitants  of  Morocco,  amongst  whom  fair- 
haired  individuals  are  far  from  uncommon. 

It  has  been  already  observed  that  in  the  physiognomical 
form  of  the  skull  the  Monbuttoo  in  many  ways  recall  the 
type  of  the  Semitic  tribes ;  and  they  differ  from  the  ordinary 
run  of  negroes  in  the  greater  length  and  curve  of  the  "nose. 
All  these  characteristics  betoken  an  affinity  with  the  Fulbe, 
and  as  such  the  Monbuttoo  may  probably  be  included  amongst 
the  "  Pyrrhi  ^thiopes  "  of  Ptolemy.  This  would,  however, 
be  but  a  vague  supposition  if  it  were  not  supported  by  the 
fact  that  the  Fulbe  are  of  eastern  origin,  although  in  later 
times  a  portion  of  them  have  made  a  retrogade  movement 
from  Senegal  towards  the  east.  It  must  be  understood  that 
I  do  not  intend  by  these  remarks  to  offer  a  bridge  for  carry- 
ing over  Eichwaldt's  theory  of  tlie  affinity  of  the  Fulbe  with 
the  Malays,  nor  do  I  intend  by  such  a  national  migration  to 
add  a  new  link  to  what  he  declares  to  be  accomplished  in 
the  case  of  Meroe.  Barth  considers  these  Fulbe  to  be  the 
issue  of  a  double  cross,  a  cross  between  the  Arabs  and  people 
of  Barbary  on  the  one  hand  and  the  people  of  Barbary  and 
the  negroes  on  the  other.  This  hypothesis,  I  believe,  would 
also  hold  good  for  the  Monbuttoo ;  but  altogether  it  is  a 
question  too  vague  to  be  capable  of  being  here  discussed 
with  any  justice. 


102  THE  HEART  OF  AFRICA. 

On  aciouut  of  the  loss  of  tlie  specimens  of  the  Monbuttoo 
dialect,  which  I  had  been  at  great  pains  to  collect  by  means 
of  a  double  interpretation,  I  am  unfortunately  not  in  a  posi- 
tion to  give  much  information  about  the  dialect ;  this  much, 
however,  I  can  confidently  assert,  that  it  is  a  branch  of  the 
great  African  language-stock  north  of  the  equator,  the 
*^reater  number  of  the  words  belonging  to  the  Nubio-Lybian 
group. 

Still  more  than  in  the  colour  of  their  skin  do  the  Mon- 
Ijuttoo  differ  from  the  neighbouring  nations  in  dress  and 
liabits.  This  appears  to  be  a  land  where  costume  is  a  settled 
matter  of  rule,  for  the  uniformity  of  attire  is  as  complete  as 
it  is  rapidly  becoming  under  the  sway  of  fashion  in  all  classes 
uf  our  civilized  communities. 

Weaving  is  an  art  unknown  to  the  Monbuttoo,  and  their 
only  material  for  clothing  is  obtained  from  their  fig-tree 
(TJrokigma  Fotschyana),  the  bark  of  which  is  found  to  be  in 
a  condition  most  serviceable  for  the  purpose  when  the  trunk 
of  the  tree  is  about  as  thick  as  a  man's  body ;  the  stem  is 
then  peeled  in  rather  a  remarkable  manner :  two  circular 
incisions,  four  or  five  feet  apart,  are  made  right  round  the 
trunk,  and  the  bark  is  removed  entire ;  strange  to  say,  this 
does  no  harm  to  the  tree,  and  in  a  very  short  time  a  peculiar 
growth  or  granulation  takes  place  along  the  edge  of  the 
upper  incision  in  the  form  of  little  fibres,  which  gradually 
ilescend  along  the  bare  cambium  or  sap-wood,  until  the 
tree  is  once  more  clothed  with  a  fresh  layer  of  bast.  The 
only  explanation  that  can  be  offered  for  this  unusual  growth 
is,  that  in  peeling  off  the  bark  the  entire  layer  of  bast  is 
not  removed,  but  that  some  portion  of  it  is  left  hanging  to 
the  wood  and  retains  its  vitality.*  In  the  course  of  three 
years  the  fresh  growth  is  complete,  and  the  bark  is  in  a  con- 


*  Livingstone  observed  a  similar  new  LTOwth  of  bark  on  the  trunk  of  tlie 
Baobab  {Adansonia),  from  which  the  Matabele  obtain  material  for  curd. 


ROKKO-TREES. 


103 


dition  to  be  again  removed ;  apart  from  tbis  pro|)erty,  the 
rearino^  of  these  rokko-trees  would  not  compensate  the  natives 
for  the  trouble  of  planting  them. 

The  rokko  bark  has  a  certain  resemblance  to  the  lime-bast, 
which  is  so  important  an  article  of  commerce  in  Russia ;  its 
fibres,  however,    have   not   the   smoothness   and   paper-like 


Monbuttoo  Warriors. 


104  THE  HEART  OF  AFRICA. 

thinness  of  the  Kiissian  product,  but  are  tangled  together 
almost  like  a  woven  mass.  By  a  partial  maceration  and  a 
good  deal  of  thrashing,  the  Monbuttoo  contrive  to  give  the 
bark  the  appearance  of  a  thick  close  fabric,  which,  in  its 
rough  condition,  is  of  a  grey  colour,  but  after  being  soaked 
iu  a  decoction  of  wood  acquires  a  reddish-brown  hue,  some- 
thing like  ordinary  woollen  stuff.  Fastened  at  the  waist 
with  a  girdle,  one  of  these  pieces  of  bark  is  sufficient  to 
clothe  the  body,  from  the  breast  downwards  to  the  knees, 
with  a  very  effective  substitute  for  drapery.  Eepresentations 
of  two  Monbuttoo  warriors  in  full  array  are  given  iu  the 
illustration  on  the  preceding  page. 

The  women  go  almost  entirely  unclothed ;  they  wear 
nothing  but  a  portion  of  a  plantain  leaf  or  a  piece  of  bark 
about  the  size  of  their  hand  attached  to  the  front  of  their 
girdle ;  the  rest  of  the  body  being  figured  in  laboured 
patterns  by  means  of  a  black  juice  obtained  from  the  Blippo 
(Eandia  mallei/era).  Whilst  the  Dinka  women,  leaving 
perfect  nudity  as  the  prerogative  of  their  husbands,  are 
modestly  clothed  with  skins — whilst  the  Mittoo  and  Bongo 
women  wear  their  girdle  of  foliage,  and  the  Niam-niam 
women  their  apron  of  hides,  the  women  of  the  Monbuttoo — 
where  the  men  are  more  scrupulously  and  fully  clothed 
than  any  of  the  nations  that  I  came  across  throughout  my 
journey — go  almost  entirely  naked. 

Whenever  the  women  go  out,  they  carry  across  their  arm 
a  strap  which  they  lay  across  their  laps  on  sitting  down. 
These  straps  or  scarfs  are  about  a  foot  wide,  and  something 
like  a  saddle-girth,  and  as  they  form  their  first  attempt  in 
the  art  of  weaving,  their  texture  is  of  the  clumsiest  order, 
possessing  no  other  recommendation  than  their  durability  ; 
they  are  appropriated  to  the  further  use  of  fastening  infants 
to  their  mothers'  backs. 

The  women  can  be  distinguished  from  one  another  by  the 
different  tattooed  figures  running  in  bands  across  the  breast 


TATTOOING  OF  THE  WuMEN. 


105 


Monbuttoo  Woman. 


and  back  along  the  shoulders ;  their  bodies,  moreover,  are 
painted  with  an  almost  inexhaustible  variety  of  patterns. 
Stars  and  Maltese  crosses,  bees  and  flowers,  are  all  enlisted 
as  designs;  at  one  time  the  entire  body  is  covered  with 
stripes  like  a  zebra,  and  at  another  with  irregular  spots  and 
dots  like  a  tiger;  I  have  seen  these  women  streaked  with 
veins  like  marble,  and  even  covered  with  squares  like  a 
chess-board.  At  the  great  festivals  every  Monbuttoo  lady 
endeavours  to  outshine  her  compeers,  and  accordingly  applies 
all  her  powers  of  invention  to  the  adornment  of  her  person. 
The  patterns  last  for  about  two  days,  when  they  are  carefully 
rubbed  off,  and  replaced  by  new  designs. 

Instead  of  this  paint  the  men  use  a  cosmetic  prepared 
from  pulverised  cam-wood,  which  is  mixed  with  fat  and  then 
rubbed  over  the  whole  body.  The  Niam-niam  also  make  use 
of  this  powder,  but  they  only  apply  it  partially  in  irregular 


106  THE  HEART  OF  AFRICA. 

spots  and  stripes,  delighting  especially  in  staining  the  breast 
and  face  to  increase  the  ferocity  of  their  appearance. 

The  coiffure  of  both  sexes  is  alike ;  the  hair  of  the  top 
and  back  of  the  head  is  mounted  up  into  a  long  cylindrical 
chignon,  and  being  fastened  on  the  inside  by  an  arrange- 
ment made  of  reeds,  slopes  backwards  in  a  slanting  direction. 
Across  the  forehead,  from  temple  to  temple,  the  hair  is  twisted 
in  thin  tresses,  which  lie  one  above  another,  closely  iitting 
the  skull  until  they  reach  the  crown  of  the  head.  Their 
own  hair  is  rarely  long  enough  to  form  this  portion  of  the 
liead-gear,  but  the  deficiency  is  supplied  from  the  heads  of 
those  who  have  fallen  in  war,  or,  since  hair  is  an  article  ol 
traffic  in  the  country,  it  is  procured  from  the  market.  On 
the  top  of  their  chignon,  the  men  wear  the  cylindrical 
straw-hats  so  often  referred  to.  These  are  without  brims, 
square  at  the  top  and  circular  at  the  base,  and  are 
adorned  either  with  the  tufts  of  red  parrots'  feathers  that  I 
have  described  in  connection  with  Munza's  wardrobe,*  or 
with  the  long  feathers  of  eagles  and  falcons.  The  hats,  of 
course,  follow  the  slanting  directions  of  the  chignon,  and  fall 
back  diagonally  to  the  head,  and  altogether  the  head-gear  is 
remarkably  similar  to  that  worn  by  the  Ishogo  women  in 
Western  Africa.  The  Monbuttoo  women  wear  no  hat  on 
their  chignon,  which  is  merely  adorned  with  little  hair-pins 
attached  to  combs  made  of  the  quills  of  the  porcupines. 

These  details  may  suffice  to  give  a  fair  notion  of  the 
external  appearance  of  the  Monbuttoo,  and  if  I  add  that 
their  only  mutilation  of  the  body  consists  in  boring  the  inner 
muscle  of  the  ear  for  the  purpose  of  inserting  a  bar  about  the 
size  of  a  cigar,  I  shall  have  described  all  the  fashions  in 
vogue,  from  which  no  individual  is  at  liberty  to  make  marked 
deviation.     They  neither  break  out  their  lower  incisor  teeth, 


*  In  tlie  woodcut  which  represents  Munza  in  full  dress,  the  king  has  one  of 
these  clusters  of  feathers  in  his  hat. 


MONBUTTOO  WEAPONS. 


10< 


like  the  black  nations  on  the  northern  river  plains,  nor  do 
they  file  them  to  points,  like  the  Niam-niam  ,  neither  do  they 
imitate  the  Bongo  and  Mittoo  women  in  the  hideous  perfora- 
tion of  their  lips ;  and  I  repeat  that,  if  we  except  circum- 
cision (which,  according  to  the  accounts  of  all  the  heathen 
negroes  of  equatorial  Africa,  is  a  custom  they  have  received 
from  their  remote  ancestors),  this  piercing  of  the  ear  is  the 
.  one  disfigurement  of  nature  adopted  by  the  Monbuttoo.  On 
account  of  this  practice  the  Khartoomers  have  conferred 
upon  them  the  title  of  "  Gurrugurroo,"  i.e.  "  pierced,"  in  con- 
tradistinction to  the  Niam-niam  in  general,  Niam-niam  being, 
as  I  have  said,  the  term  used  by  the  inhabitants  of  the  Soudan 
for  all  cannibals,  irrespective  of  their  various  nationalities. 

The  weapons  of  the  Monbuttoo  warriors  are  very  numerous. 
Besides  shields  and  lances,  they  also  carry  bows  and  arrows, 
a  combination  somewhat  rare  amongst  Africans ;  in  addition 


Weai'oxs  of  the  MoMirTTOO. 


Fics.  1-9.  Various  pcimitars.        10.  Large  dagger.        11.  Hand-knife,  fot  carving  and  peeling  bark. 


108  THE  HEART  OF  AFRICA. 

to  tliese,  in  their  girdles  they  are  accustomed  to  have  scimi- 
tars with  curved  blades  like  sickles,  whilst  some  of  them  use 
daggers  and  spatular  knives  of  all  shapes  and  sizes.  The 
projectiles  which  are  in  use  among  the  Niam-niam  are  not 
included  in  the  equipment  of  the  Monbuttoo. 

Since  the  Monbuttoo  dwell  upon  the  red  ferruginous  soil 
extending  from  the  Gazelle  over  a  large  portion  of  Central 
Africa,  it  may  be  assumed  as  a  matter  of  course  that  smiths' 
worjj  must  play  an  important  part  in  their  industrial  pursuits, 
an(f  indeed  in  this  respect  they  excel  all  other  natives  of  the 
districts  through  which  I  travelled,  whilst  in  other  branches 
of  their  manufacture  they  surpassed  even  the  Mohammedans 
of  Northern  Africa. 

The  smelting  process  is  of  the  most  primitive  description, 
and  is  the  same  that  has  been  described  by  travellers  in 
all  parts  of  Africa.  The  simplicity  of  the  arrangement  is 
caused  by  the  ventilating  apparatus  ;  for  as  the  construction 
of  valves  is  unknown,  a  continual  draft  is  produced  by  means  of 
two  clay  vessels,  of  which  the  openings  are  covered  by  the 
Monbuttoo  smiths  with  plantain  leaves,  which  have  been 
allowed  to  simmer  in  hot  water  until  they  have  become 
as  flexible  as  silk:  other  nations  cover  the  openings  with 
soft  skins.  Although  entirely  without  our  pincers,  hammers, 
and  files,  the  Monbuttoo  have  a  set  of  implements  of  their 
own,  by  means  of  which  their  iron-work  is  more  carefully 
manipulated  than  that  of  any  of  their  neighbours.  Instead 
of  the  usual  stone  anvil,  they  use  a  miniature  one  of  wrought 
iron,  and  on  this  each  separate  weapon  is  cut  out  with  a 
chisel,  and  hammered  until  an  approximate  degree  of  sharp- 
ness is  attained ;  the  edge  being  brought  to  its  finish  by  a 
piece  of  fine-ground  sandstone  or  gneiss,  which  answers  the 
purpose  of  a  file.  As  a  general  rule,  no  special  form  is  given 
to  the  iron  used  as  a  medium  of  exchange,  unless  indeed  the 
great  semicircular  bars  in  the  royal  treasury  be  considered 
as  currency,  and  which  remind  one  of  the  rough  copper  rings 


MONBUTTOO  METAL  WORK.  109 

that  are  brought  from  the  mines  of  Darfoor.*  Neither  plates 
of  iron  nor  round  spades  (melots)  are  in  vogue,  but  the  smiths 
have  to  work  from  great  lumps  of  iron  as  large  as  the  fist. 
The  dexterity  of  these  artificers  is  wonderful,  and  the  short 
space  of  time  in  which  they  will  convert  the  raw  material 
into  spades  and  lances  is,  I  should  think,  unrivalled.  The 
Monbuttoo  smiths  often  joined  our  Bongo  workmen  at  their 
forges  in  our  camp,  and  as  I  had  frequent  opportunity  of 
observing  and  comparing  the  two,  I  do  not  hesitate  in  assert- 
ing the  decided  superiority  of  the  workmanship  of  the  Mon- 
buttoo. 

The  masterpieces,  however,  of  these  Monbuttoo  smiths  are 
the  ornamental  chains  which,  in  refinement  of  form  and  neat- 
ness of  finish,  might  vie  with  our  best  steel  chains ;  in  fact, 
according  to  the  judgment  of  connoisseurs,  many  of  these 
specimens  of  autochthonic  art  may  well  bear  comparison  with 
the  productions  of  our  European  craftsmen.  The  process  of 
tempering  is  quite  unknown  to  them,  the  necessary  hardness 
being  attained  by  continual  hammering :  the  material  used 
is  singularly  pure  and  homogeneous,  qualities  acquired  not 
from  any  perfection  of  the  smelting  apparatus,  but  from  the 
laborious  welding  of  the  separate  particles  of  iron. 

Copper  was  already  known,  and  the  king  was  in  possession 
of  large  quantities  of  the  metal,  before  the  Nubians  set  foot 
in  the  country ;  and  as  previously  to  that  event  the  Mon- 
buttoo (if  Ave  except  the  great  raid  which  Barth  reports  to 
have  been  made  upon  them  by  the  Foorians  in  183-1)  had 
had  no  intercourse  with  the  Mohammedan  world,  there  is 
every  reason  to  conclude  that  they  must  have  received  their 
supply  either  from  the  copper  mines  of  Angola  and  Loango, 
or  from  some  other  region  of  the  north-western  portion  of 
South  Africa. 

Almost  all  the  ornaments  worn  by  the  Monbuttoo  are  made 


*  Iron  rings  of  the  heaviest  calibre  are  current  iu  Wandala,  south  of  Bornoo. 


]10  THE  HEART  OF  AFRICA. 

of  copper,  so  that  it  may  be  easily  understood  that  the  de- 
maud  for  the  metal  is  not  small.  One  of  the  most  frequent 
uses  to  which  it  is  applied  is  that  of  making  flat  wires,  many 
vards  long,  to  wind  round  the  handles  of  knives  and  scimi- 
tars, or  round  the  shafts  of  lances  and  bows.  Copper,  as  well 
as  iron,  is  used  for  the  clasps  which  are  attached  to  the 
shields,  partly  for  ornament  and  partly  to  prevent  them  from 
splitting.  Copper  necklaces  are  in  continual  wear,  and 
copper  fostenings  are  attached  to  the  rings  of  buffalo-hide 
and  to  the  thick  thongs  of  the  girdles.  The  little  bars  in- 
serted through  the  ear  are  tipped  with  the  same  metal ;  in 
fact  there  is  hardly  an  ornament  that  fails  in  an  adjunct  of 
copper  in  some  form  or  other ;  persons  of  rank  not  unfre- 
quently  pride  themselves  in  having  ornamental  weapons 
formed  entirely  of  it.  All  other  metals  being  unknown,  iron 
and  copper  are  estimated  by  the  Monbuttoo  as  silver  and 
gold  by  ourselves,  and  the  silver  platter  with  which  I  pre- 
sented the  king  failed  to  elicit  any  comment  beyond  the 
observation  that  it  was  white  iron.  Lead  and  tin  have  been 
introduced  as  curiosities  by  the  Nubians,  but  previous  to 
their  arrival  had  never  been  seen.  Information,  however, 
which  was  incidentally  dropped  by  a  Niam-niam,  led  me  to 
suppose  that  fragments  of  platinum  about  the  size  of  peas 
have  been  found  in  these  lands:  he  told  me  that  a  white 
metal,  as  hard  as  iron  and  as  heavy  as  the  lead  of  which  the 
Nubians  made  their  bullets,  had  been  discovered,  but  that  its 
existence  was  always  carefully  concealed  from  the  strangers. 
I  see  no  reason  to  doubt  the  truth  of  this  statement,  since  it 
originated  from  a  people  who  in  no  other  way  could  have 
become  aware  of  the  existence  of  such  a  metal,  which  has 
been  hitherto  as  unknown  to  the  Nubians  as  silver  and  gold 
to  the  Monbuttoo. 

It  would  require  many  illustrations  to  convey  an  adequate 
idea  of  the  various  forms  of  the  heads  of  the  arrows  and 
lances :  suffice  it  to  say,  that  the  symmetry  of  the  various 


MONBUTTOO  WEAPONS. 


Ill 


barbs,  spikes,  and  prongs  with  which  they  are  provided  is 
always  perfect.  The  prevailing  forms  of  the  spear-heads  are 
hastate,  whilst  the  arrows  are 
generally  made  flat  or  spatnlar, 
as  inflicting  a  deeper  and 
wider  wound  than  the  pointed 
tips.  All  weapons  of  the 
Monbuttoo  and  the  Niam- 
niam  are  provided  with  blood 
gutters,  a  mark  which  serves 
to  distinguish  them  at  once 
from  those  of  the  Bongo  and 
Mittoo.  The  shafts  of  the 
Monbuttoo  arrows  are  made 
of  reed-grass,  and  differ  from 
all  others  of  the  Bongo  terri- 
tory by  being  winged  with 
pieces  of  genet's  skin  or  plan- 
tain leaves.  The  bows  are 
rather  over  three  feet  in 
length,  and  in  form  and  size 
correspond  very  nearly  witli  those  used  by  the  Mittoo  and 
Bongo ;  the  bow-strings  being  made  of  a  strip  of  the  split 
Spanish  reed,  which  possesses  more  elasticity  than  any  cord. 
These  bows  are  provided  with  a  small  hollow  piece  of  wood 
for  protecting  the  thumb  from  the  rebound  of  the  string. 
The  arrow  is  always  discharged  from  between  the  middle 
fingers. 

The  perfection  of  their  instruments  gives  the  Monbuttoo 
a  great  advantage  in  the  art  of  wood-carving,  and  they  are 
the  only  African  nation,  including  even  the  modern  Egyp- 
tians, who  make  use  of  a  graving-tool  with  a  single  edge, 
an  instrument  which,  by  supporting  the  forefinger,  enables 
the  workman  to  give  a  superior  finish  to  the  details  of  his 
productions.     The  wood  used  for  carving  is  generally  that  of 

Vol.  II.— 9 


Spear-heads. 


112 


THE  HEABT  OP  AFRICA. 


the  stem  of  one  of  the  Rnbiacefe  (Unearia),  of  which  the  soft 
close  texture  resembles  that  of  poplar-wood.  The  felling  of 
these  giant-trees,  which  vary  from  six  to  eight  feet  in  dia- 
meter, and  often  shoot  up  to  a  height  of  forty  feet  without 
throwing  forth  a  single  branch,  is  performed  by  means  of 
their  small  hatchets,  with  a  most  tedious  amount  of  labour. 
The  hatchets  are  like  those  which  are  used  in  other  parts  of 
Central  Africa,  and  consist  of  a  sharpened  iron  wedge  inserted 
through  the  thick  end  of  a  knotted  club ,  thus  every  blow 
tends  to  fix  the  blade  firmer  in  its  socket.  The  number  of 
blows  necessary  to  fell  one  of  these  ponderous  trees  must 
amount  to  several  thousand,  and  yet  1  often  noticed  stems 
lying  in  the  forest  the  ends  of  which  were  as  smooth  as 
though  they  had  been  cut  with  a  knife,  a  circumstance  that 
attests  their  correctness  of  vision,  a  quality  in  which  the 
negroes  outshine  the  Arabs  and  Nubians,  as  much  as  in  their 
appreciation  of  sound  and  musical  talent.     The  first  crude 


Hatchet,  spade,  and  adze,  of  the  Monbuttou 


form  is  given  to  the  larger  blocks  of  wood  by  means  of  a 
tool  something  like  a  cooper's  adze.*  When  first  hewn,  the 
wood  of  the  Unearia  is  white,  but  it  is  afterwards  blackened 
by  exposure  to  fire,  or  still  more  frequently  by  being  allowed 
to  lie  in  the  dark  soil  of  the  brooks. 


*  One  of  these  tools  is  represented  in  the  accompanying  illustration. 


MOJSBurroo  handicraft. 


113 


Platters,  stools,  drums,  boats,  and  shields  constitute  the 
chief  items  of  their  handicraft.  Upon  the  Lower  ►Shary,  the 
boats  which  are  in  common  use  are  manufactured  by  fastening 
together  wooden  planks,  but  here,  on  the  Welle,  canoes  are 
hewn  out  of  a  solid  stem,  and  are  in  every  way  adapted  for 
their  purpose.  I  saw  some  of  them  upwards  of  thirty-eight 
feet  long  and  five  feet  wide,  quite  large  enough  for  the  con- 
veyance of  horses  and  cattle.* 

The  large  signal-drums  ol  the  Niam-niam  are  to  be.  seen 
in  every  Monbuttoo  village.     They  stand  sometimes  upon 


Wooden  kettle-drum. 


four,  and  sometimes  upon  two,  feet,  and  are  like  the  instru- 
ments which  are  seen  upon  the  West  Coast.  Another  smaller 
kind  is  made  in  a  semicircular  shape,  very  compressed,  and 
fitted  with  a  handle  at  the  top ;  the  opening  for  the  sound  is 
below,  and  the  instrument  may  be  compared  to  a  flattened 
bell. 

Benches  and  stools,  such  as  are  exclusively  used  by  the 
women,  are  made  in  every  diversity  of  shape.  They  are 
carved  out  of  a  single  block,  for,  to  say  the  truth,  no  people  of 
Central  Africa  seems  to  have  acquired  the  art  of  joining  one 
piece  of  wood  to  another,  so  that  the  craft  of  the  cabinet- 
maker may  be  said  to  be  unknown.  The  seats  of  these  stools 
are   circular   and   somewhat   hollowed   out,  surmounting  a 


*  A  boat  of  this  kind  is  seen  in  the  view  of  the  rapids  of  the  Keebaly,  in 
Chap.  XVII. 


114 


THE  HEART  OF  AFRICA. 


Single  seat  used  by  the  Women. 


prettily  carved  stem,  which  rises  from  a  circular  or  polygonal 
base.  Close  to  the  edge  of  the  seat  is  a  triangular  aperture, 
which  serves  as  a  handle.     They  are  usually  made   from 

twelve  to  sixteen  inches 
high,  and  are  hardly  to  be 
distinguished  from  certain 
contrivances  for  meal-times, 
which  are  here  made  so  as 
to  serve  at  once  for  table 
and  plate.  Wooden  platters 
there  are  of  every  possible 
size:  one  kind  of  them  has  two 
open  ring-shaped  handles ; 
another  stands  upon  four  feet, 
and  both  are  patterns  quite 
worthy  of  our  own  factories 
at  home.  Besides  the  single 
seats  they  are  in  the  habit  of  making  long  benches  also  with 
four  feet.  The  practice  of  making  all  their  utensils  to  stand 
upon  feet  is  all  but  universal  among  the  Niam-niam  and  the 
Monbuttoo,  even  the  little  cylindrical  boxes  covered  with  bark 
for  storing  away  their  knick-knacks  being  finished  off  in  this 
fashion.  The  ordinary  seats  of  the  men  are  made  exclusively 
from  the  leaf-stalks  of  the  Raphia  palm :  they  always  keep  to 
precisely  the  same  form,  and  in  their  manufacture  appear  to 
indicate  a  first  attempt  at  the  joiner's  art.  The  benches  of  the 
Monbuttoo  men  are  about  five  feet  long  and  of  corresponding 
width ;  they  are  made  of  such  lightness  that  one  of  our 
bearers,  without  any  apparent  exertion,  carried  six  of  them 
at  once ;  but  they  are  nevertheless  of  very  extraordinary 
firmness,  and  the  way  in  which  the  separate  parts  are  fixed 
together  is  really  very  ingenious.  The  Monbuttoo  do  not 
fasten  their  benches  or  any  of  their  structures  by  means  of 
nails  or  pegs,  but  they  sew  them,  as  it  were,  together  by  fine 
split  Spanish  reeds,  which   by  their  unyielding   toughness 


SEATS  AND  SHIELDS.  115 

answer  as  admirably  as  in  the  manufacture  of  our  cane- 
cliairs. 

Backs  are  not  attached  to  the  Monbuttoo  seats ;  but  as 
some  support  of  the  kind  is  clearly  indispensable,  they  en- 
deavour to  supply  its  place  by 
placing  by  the  side  of  their 
benches  a  singular  sort  of  crutch. 
This  is  obtained  by  taking  a  young 
tree  and  cutting  a  section  of  it, 
where  what  botanists  call  its 
"  verticillate  ramification "  has 
developed  itself  into  four  addi- 
tional separate  limbs:  the  main 
stem  and  two  of  the  boughs 
supply  the  three  feet,  the  other 

two  boughs  serving,  with  the  continuation  of  the  stem,  to 
make  the  arms  and  back.  No  wood  is  so  available  for  the 
purpose  as  that  of  the  cotton  tree  {Eriodendron). 

The  shields  of  the  warriors  are  hewn  out  of  the  thickest 
stems  by  means  of  the  axe,  and  consist  of  perfectly  smooth 
rectangular  boards,  not  more  than  half  an  inch  thick,  but 
which  are  long  enough  to  cover  two-thirds  of  the  person. 
These  inelegant  instruments  of  defensive  warfare,  in  which 
the  recommendation  of  solidity  is  ill  sacrificed  for  the  sake 
of  their  lightness,  require  to  be  protected  from  splitting  or 
starting,  and  to  secure  this  a  number  of  parallel  seams 
of  rotang  are  fixed  across  the  width,  and  both  the  upper 
and  lower  edges  are  provided  with  a  strong  border  of 
rotang  twist,  and  a  strong  rib  run  across  the  middle  gives 
them  an  additional  firmness.  They  are  generally  decorated 
with  tails  of  the  guinea-hog  (Potamochserus),  and  are  in- 
variably stained  quite  black.  If  any  fissures  or  cracks 
should  be  detected,  they  are  at  once  drawn  together  by  iron 
and  copper  braces. 

Contrasted  with  the  rest  of   Africa,  and  even  with  the 


IIG  THE  HEART  OF  AFPJCA. 

Bongo,  whose  comparative  skill  was  noticed  on  a  previous 
page,*  the  district  shows  a  very  considerable  advance  in  the 
manufacture  of  their  pottery.  Although  they  remain  as 
unacquainted  as  other  races  with  the  use  of  the  wheel,  their 
productions,  besides  being  of  a  superior  quality,  are  of  a  more 
perfect  symmetry  than  any  which  are  elsewhere  observed. 
All  the  vessels  and  drinking-cups  of  the  Africans  in  general 


Water-bottlea. 


have  the  character  of  urns,  being  made  without  handles  and 
being  never  otherwise  than  spherical  in  form ;  but  those  of 
the  Monbuttoo  exhibit  a  manifest  improvement,  and  by 
having  the  surface  decorated  either  with  some  raised  sym- 
metrical pattern  (which  is  especially  the  case  upon  their  oil 
vessels)  or  with  some  ornamental  figures,  they  afford  a  firm 
hold  to  the  hand,  and  thus  make  good  the  lack  of  handles  for 
lifting  them.  It  is,  however,  principally  upon  the  water- 
bottles  that  the  greatest  care  is  bestowed,  some  of  which  may 
fairly  be  said  to  rival  in  symmetry  the  far-famed  examples  of 
Egyptian  art,  and  to  betray  a  considerable  faculty  of  plastic 
genius.t 

*  Vide  vol.  i.  page  292. 

t  The  two  examples  of  water-bottles  given  in  the  engravings  are  copies  ot 
the  originals,  which  are  deposited  in  the  Ethnographical  Museum  in  Berlin, 


GRASS  ORNAMENTS.  117 

For  the  bowls  of  pipes,  upon  wbich  other  of  the  native 
populations  lavish  so  much  care,  they  have  no  use.  They 
smoke  only  the  Virginian  tobacco,  and  for  this  purpose 
employ  the  midrib  of  the  plantain  leaf  in  the  way  that  I 
have  already  described,*  superseding  entirely  the  necessity 
for  a  solid  bowl. 

They  are  very  ignorant  of  the  art  of  leather-dressing,  and 
are  no  more  acquainted  with  the  use  of  tan  than  any  of  the 
rest  of  the  tribes  that  have  their  homes  in  the  Bahr-el-Ghazal 
district. 

Their  baskets  and  nets  are  woven  out  of  rotang,  the  form 
of  the  baskets  in  which  they  bear  burdens  on  their  backs 
being  very  similar  to  those  which  are  seen  amongst  the 
Thuringians.  Their  mode  of  dressing  their  hair  necessarily 
prevents  them  from  ever  carrying  a  load  upon  their  heads. 

They  are  in  the  habit  of  twisting  ornaments  for  themselves 
out  of  reeds  and  grass,  which  they  wear  like  rings  round 
their  arms  and  legs,  and  which  make  a  rustling  sound  as  they 
walk.  They  bestow  a  great  amount  of  care  in  weaving  the 
fine  webs  which  hold  on  their  hats  and  chignons.  The  rattles, 
filled  with  shells  and  pebbles,  that  are  used  for  beating  time 
to  the  music  of  the  drums  and  horns  at  the  great  festivals 
are  also  woven  from  reeds. 

The  Monbuttoo  musical  instruments  require  no  particular 
description.  They  do  not  include  the  pretty  little  mandolins 
of  the  Niam-niam,  nor  any  other  stringed  instruments,  and 
their  horns,  trumpets,  and  drums  may  be  said  to  be  little 
short  of  universal  throughout  Africa.  Wooden  dulcimers 
(Marimba)  are  met  with  neither  here. nor  in  South  Africa. 

But  the  artistic  versatility  of  the  people  reveals  itself  more 
than  anywhere  else  in  their  arcliitectural  skill.  It  would 
hardly  be  credited  that  Africa  would  be  capable  of  rearing 


To  the  one  in  three  compartments  handles  are  attached,  heing  the  only  instance 
of  the  kind  that  I  ever  saw. 
*  Vide  vol.  i.  page  547. 


118  THE  HEART  OF  AFEICA. 

any  erection  so  spacious  and  well  proportioned  as  the  ball  of 
Munza's  palace.  This  was  little  short  of  150  feet  in  length 
and  60  feet  in  breadth,  and  rose  to  the  height  of  about  50 
feet.  Combined  with  these  imposing  dimensions  were  a 
lightness  of  character  and  solidity  of  structure  that  were  quite 
remarkable.  The  ever-useful  leaf- stalks  of  the  wine-palm 
form  the  principal  building-material,  and  its  natural  polish 
and  bright  brown  colour  give  every  building  for  which  it  is 
used  an  aspect  of  finished  grace.  The  flat  horizontal  roofs  of 
their  huts,  as  distinguished  from  the  conical  roofs  which  we 
have  hitherto  observed  as  almost  universal  throughout  the 
rest  of  Central  Africa,  mark  out  these  Monbuttoo  in  a  fresh 
respect  as  being  allied  to  the  natives  of  the  west,  viz.,  the 
Ishogo,  the  Ashango,  the  Bakalai,  the  Ashiva,  the  Camma, 
the  Mpongwe,  and  the  Fan — a  relation  that  is  further  con- 
firmed by  the  physical  character  of  the  land,  the  streams  of 
which  flow  to  the  west  instead  of  to  the  north.  Some  of  the 
huts,  however,  have  conical  roofs,  and  these  are  generally 
appropriated,  either  as  kitchens,  because  they  allow  better 
escape  for  the  smoke,  or  as  granaries,  because  they  throw  off 
the  rain  more  rapidly. 

The  dwellings  of  the  ordinary  population  are  by  no  means 
large,  being  seldom  more  than  thirty  feet  long,  and  twenty 
feet  wide ;  the  roofs  project  considerably,  and  are  slightly 
rounded  with  a  bend  corresponding  to  the  natural  curvature 
of  the  palm  leaves  from  which  they  are  made,  and  which 
furnish  the  ribs  of  the  roof.  They  are  rendered  water-tight 
by  a  lining  of  plantain  leaves,  which  is  frequently  covered 
again  with  grass,  straw,  or  skin.  The  walls  are  built  up  to  a 
height  of  five  or  six  feet,  and  are  lined  like  the  roof  and 
bound  together  by  the  split  Spanish  reed.  This,  again,  is  the 
mode  of  erecting  the  huts  upon  the  West  Coast.  It  offers  an 
astonishing  power  of  resistance  to  the  fury  of  the  elements, 
which,  left  to  play  upon  rows  of  posts  or  to  range  through 
open  halls,  might  be  expected  to  work  complete  destruction ; 


TREES.  119 

yet  such  is  the  stability  with  which  the  Monbuttoo  huts  are 
raised,  that  they  never  totter  in,  a  storm,  and  only  show  by  a 
slight  trembling  in  the  walls  that  they  are  exposed  to  the 
violence  of  a  hurricane. 

A  spacious  doorway  is  the  only  aperture  for  light  and  air, 
the  door  itself  being  made  in  one  piece ;  the  interior  is 
divided  into  two  apartments,  the  more  remote  of  which  is 
reserved  for  the  stores. 

Plantations  of  trees  are  frequent,  and  still  more  frequent 
are  patches  of  shrubs,  which  are  intentionally  suffered  to  grow, 
and  which,  as  being  serviceable,  are  permitted  to  survive  the 
extirpation  of  the  .ancient  forests.  These  are  generally  to  be 
seen  in  the  immediate  vicinity  of  the  unenclosed  farms.  In 
addition  to  them,  many  trees  are  allowed  to  stand  for  the 
sake  of  the  shelter  they  afford ;  and  some  are  kept  because 
of  their  useful  jDroducts,  as  for  example,  the  Tephrosia 
Vogelii,  which  furnishes  the  powder  for  poisoning  fish ;  or 
the  Bandia  mallei/era,  which  produces  the  pigment  for  the 
staining  of  the  skiu,  and  of  which  the  white  funnel-shaped 
blossoms  are  a  striking  ornament  to  the  bushes ;  and  some 
are  retained  merely  for  ornament  and  for  increasing  the 
pleasantness  of  the  external  aspect  of  their  dwellings.  As 
examples  of  this  superfluous  indulgence  I  may  refer  to  the 
marvellous  Mussaenda,  with  its  glowing  bracts,  and  to  the 
variety  of  resplendent  orchids.  Here,  too,  I  noticed  what  I 
must  not  omit  to  record,  the  turf-like  Chlorophijtum,  with  its 
variegated  leaves  of  mingled  white  and  green,  which  is 
employed  among  the  Niam-niam  as  a  charm  to  detect  a 
thief,  much  in  the  same  way  as  the  Canavalia  ensiformis, 
known  as  the  "overlook"  or  horse-bean,  is  employed  in 
Jamaica  and  Haiti,  where  it  is  sown  in  the  negro-plantations 
for  that  purpose. 

The  huts  are  arranged  in  sets  following  the  lines  of  the 
brooks  along  the  valleys,  the  space  between  each  group 
being  occupied  by  plantations  of  oil-palms.     The  dwellings 


120  THE  HEART  OF  AFKICA. 

are  separated  from  the  lowest  parts  of  the  depressions  by  the 
plantain-grounds,  whilst  above,  on  the  higher  and  drier  soil, 
extend  the  fields  of  sweet-potatoes  and  colocasiae. 

No  one  could  seriously  expect  a  traveller,  after  a  transient 
residence  of  five  weeks,  to  pass  anything  like  a  decided 
judgment  upon  the  religious  ideas  of  a  people  like  the 
Monbuttoo.  A  wide  scope  for  speculation  is  undoubtedly 
opened,  but  it  would  ill  become  a  stranger  to  pretend  to 
pronoimce  a  conclusive  verdict.  I  must  be  excused,  there- 
fore, from  drawing  any  very  definite  inference  from  the  fact 
that  they  adopt  the  rite  of  circumcision  so  far  as  to  have  it 
performed  on  boys  when  they  come  to  an  age  of  puberty, 
a  period  of  life  which  is  neither  in  accordance  with  the 
original  prescription,  nor  with  the  doctrine  of  Mohammed. 
I  may  say,  however,  that  I  never  allowed  myself  to  be 
unconcerned  with  regard  to  any  of  the  people  amongst 
whom  I  journeyed  as  to  their  opinions  about  a  presiding 
Deity,  but,  by  collecting  all  the  proofs  I  could  from  their 
habitual  speech,  I  endeavoured  to  learn  what  were  their 
conceptions  about  the  sovereignty  of  an  invisible  power, 
and  its  influence  upon  the  destinies  of  men. 

The  Monbuttoo  have  undoubtedly  very  intelligent  ideas 
of  what  the  Nubians  mean  by  their  bowing  of  the  knee, 
their  prostrations  to  the  ground,  and  their  cry  of  "Allah!" 
The  very  designation  which  they  use  to  express  their  concep- 
tion of  Grod  as  the  concentration  of  the  Supreme  Being, 
opens  a  long  vista  into  the  kindred  association  of  African 
people.  In  the  district  of  the  Mahas,  the  word  now  em- 
ployed for  the  Grod  of  the  Nubians  is  "  Nor,"  and,  upon  the 
authority  of  my  interpreters,  I  may  state  that  "  Noro  "  was 
the  term  by  which,  after  the  double  interpretation,  "  Allah  " 
was  rendered  to  me.  When  the  question  was  put  as  to  where 
'*  Noro  "  resided,  the  Monbuttoo,  who  was  familiar  with  the 
Niam-niam  dialect,  pointed  upwards  to  the  sky ;  but  when 
he  was  further  pressed  with  the  inquiry  whether  he  could 


MONBUTTOO  THEOLOGY. 


121 


see  him,  he  only  auswered  with  a  smile.  Whether  the 
Monbuttoo  are  in  the  habit  of  consulting  oracles,  or  whether 
they  have  any  reliance  upon  auguries  from  fowls,  or  any 
fortune-telling  apparatus  corresponding  to  the  "  damma  "  of 
the  Niam-uiam,  my  residence  among  them  was  not  long 
enough  to  permit  me  to  ascertain. 


Bongo  woman.  Dinka  woman. 

(See  desiTiption,  vol.  i.,  p.  296.) 


CHAPTEK    XVI. 

The  Pygmies.  Nubian  stories.  Ancient  classical  allusions.  Homer,  Hero- 
dotus, Aristotle.  My  introduction  to  Pygmies.  Adimokoo  the  Akka. 
Close  questioning.  "War-dance.  Visits  from  many  Akka.  Mummery's 
Pygmy  corps.  My  adopted  Pygmy.  Nsewue"s  life  and  death.  Dwarf 
races  of  Africa.  Accounts  of  previous  authors :  Battel,  Dapper,  KoUe. 
Analogy  of  Akka  with  Bushmen.  Height  and  complexion.  Hair  and 
beards.  Shape  of  the  body.  Awkward  gait.  Graceful  hands.  Form  of 
skull.  Size  of  eyes  and  ears.  Lips.  Gesticulations.  Dialect  iuarticulate. 
Dexterity  and  cunning.     Munza's  protection  of  the  race. 

Whenever  two  or  three  Egyptians  are  found  in  company, 
the  chances  are  very  great  that  their  conversation,  if  it  could 
be  overheard,  would  be  found  to  relate  to  the  market  prices 
of  the  day,  or  to  some  fluctuations  in  the  state  of  trade. 
With  the  romantic  sons  of  the  Nubian  Nile-valley  the  case 
would  be  very  difierent.  Ample  opportunity  of  making  this 
comparison  was  continually  afforded  me  during  the  long 
evenings  which  I  passed  in  my  transit  upon  the  waters  of 
the  Upper  Nile ;  and  even  now  I  can  recall  with  vivid 
interest  the  hours  when,  from  my  detached  compartment  on 
the  stern  of  the  boat,  I  could,  without  being  observed,  listen 
to  the  chatter  by  which  the  Nubians  on  the  voyage  beguiled 
their  time.  They  seemed  to  talk  with  eagerness  of  all  the 
wonders  of  the  world.  Some  would  expatiate  upon  the 
splendours  of  the  City  of  the  Caliphs,  and  others  enlarge 
upon  the  accomplishment  of  the  Suez  Canal  and  the  huge 
ships  of  the  Franks ;  but  the  stories  that  ever  commanded 
the  most  rapt  attention  were  those  which  treated  of  war  and 


NUBIAN  TALES.  123 

of  the  chase  ;  or,  beyond  all,  such  as  described  the  wild  beasts 
and  still  wilder  natives  of  Central  Africa. 

It  was  not  with  stories  in  the  sense  of  '  The  Thousand  and 
One  Nights '  that  this  people  entertained  each  other ;  neither 
did  they  recite  their  prolix  histories  as  though  they  were  read- 
ing at  the  celebration  of  Ramadan  in  Cairo,  amidst  the  halls 
where  night  by  night  they  abandoned  themselves  to  the  enjoy- 
ment of  their  coffee.  These  things  I  had  now  long  ago  left 
far.  behind;  however,  occasionally,  as  the  expiring  strain  of 
Arabia,  I  might  still  hear  the  song  of  Abd-el-Kader  the  sheikh, 
or  of  Aboo  Zeyd  the  hero.  My  whole  style  of  living  seemed 
now  to  partake  of  the  character  of  an  Odyssey ;  it  appeared 
to  be  adapted  for  the  embellishment  of  an  Homeric  episode, 
and  such  an  episode  in  truth  was  already  awaiting  me. 

Of  the  Nile  itself,  which  had  the  appearance,  day  by  day, 
of  becoming  wider  as  farther  and  farther  we  progressed 
towards  the  south,  they  affirmed  that  it  issued  from  the  ocean 
by  which  Africa  was  girt ;  they  would  declare  that  we  were 
on  the  route  which  would  lead  us,  like  the  cranes,  to  fight 
with  the  Pygmies ;  ever  and  again  they  would  speak  of 
Cyclops,  of  Automoli,  or  of  "  Pygmies,"  but  by  whatever 
name  they  called  them,  they  seemed  never  to  weary  of 
recurring  to  them  as  the  theme  of  their  talk.  Some  there 
were  who  averred  that  with  their  own  eyes  they  had  seen  this 
people  of  immortal  myth ;  and  these — men  as  they  were  whose 
acquaintance  might  have  been  coveted  by  Herodotus  and 
envied  by  Aristotle — were  none  other  than  my  own  servants. 

It  was  a  fascinating  thing  to  hear  them  confidently  relate 
that  in  the  land  to  the  south  of  the  Niam-niam  country  there 
dwelt  people  who  never  grew  to  more  than  three  feet  in 
height,  and  who  wore  beards  so  long  that  they  reached  to 
their  knees.*     It  was   affirmed  of  them  that,  armed  with 


*  It  may  be  remarked  that  the  people  of  the  Soudan  when  they  depict  a 
dwarf,  ordinarily,  like  we  should  ourselves,  represent  him  as  a  diminutive  man 
with  a  lon^  beard. 


124  THE  HEART  OP  AFRICA. 

strong  lances,  they  would  creep  underneath  the  belly  of  an 
elephant  and  dexterously  kill  the  beast,  managing  their  own 
movements  so  adroitly  that  they  could  not  be  reached  by 
the  creature's  trunk.  Their  services  in  this  way  were 
asserted  to  contribute  very  largely  to  the  resources  of  the 
ivory  traders.  The  name  by  which  they  are  known  is  the 
"  Shebber-digintoo,"  which  implies  the  growth  of  the  dis- 
proportioned  beard. 

I  listened  on.  The  more,  however,  that  I  pondered  silently 
over  the  stories  that  they  involuntarily  disclosed — the  more 
I  studied  the  traditions  to  which  they  referred — so  much  the 
more  I  was  perplexed  to  explain  what  must  either  be  the 
creative  faculty  or  the  derived  impressions  of  the  Nubians. 
Whence  came  it  that  they  could  have  gained  any  knowledge 
at  all  of  what  Homer  had  sung  ?  How  did  it  happen  that 
they  were  familiar  at  all  with  the  material  which  Ovid  and 
Juvenal,  and  Nonnus  and  Statins  worked  into  their  verse, 
giving  victory  at  one  time  to  the  cranes,  and  at  another  to 
the  Pygmies  themselves  ? 

My  own  ideas  of  Pygmies  were  gathered  originally  only 
from  books,  but  the  time  seemed  now  to  have  come  when 
their  existence  should  be  demonstrated  in  actual  life. 

Legends  of  Pygmies  had  mingled  themselves  already  with 
the  earliest  surviving  literature  of  the  Greeks,  and  the  poet 
of  the  Iliad,  it  will  be  remembered,  mentions  them  as  a  race 
that  had  long  been  known : — 

"  To  -wamier  seas  the  cranes  embodied  fly, 
With  noise,  and  order,  through  the  midway  sky ; 
To  pygmy  nations  wounds  and  death  they  bring, 
And  all  the  war  descends  upon  the  wing." 

Pope's  '  Homer's  Iliad,'  iii.  6-10. 

But  not  the  classic  ipoets  alone  j  sober  historians  and  precise 
geographers  have  either  adopted  the  poetic  substance  of  the 
tradition  or  have  endeavoured,  by  every  kind  of  conjecture, 
to  confii-m  its  accuracy.     Nothing,  for  instance,  can  be  more 


CLASSICAL  WITNESS  TO  PYGMIES.  125 

definite  than  the  statement  of  Herodotus  about  the  Nasa- 
raonians  after  they  had  crossed  the  Libyan  deserts  :  "  They 
at  length  saw  some  trees  growing  on  a  plain,  and  having 
approached  they  began  to  gather  the  fruit  that  grew  on  the 
trees ;  and  while  they  were  gathering  it  some  diminutive 
men,  less  than  men  of  middle  stature,  came  up  and  seized 
them  and  carried  them  away."  *  The  testimony  of  Aristotle 
is  yet  more  precise  when  he  says  plainly  :  "  The  cranes  fly 
to  the  lakes  above  Egypt,  from  which  flows  the  Nile ;  there 
dwell  the  Pygmies,  and  this  is  no  fable  but  the  pure  truth ; 
there,  just  as  we  are  told,  do  men  and  horses  of  diminutive 
size  dwell  in  caves ;"  f  a  quotation  this,  which  would  seem 
to  imply  that  the  learned  Stagyrite  was  in  possession  of  some 
exact  and  positive  information,  otherwise  he  would  not  have 
ventured  to  insist  so  strongly  upon  the  truth  of  his  assertion. 
Very  likely,  however,  we  should  be  justified  in  surmising 
that  Aristotle  mentions  cranes  and  Pygmies  together  only 
because  he  had  the  passage  of  the  Iliad  floating  in  his 
memory,  and  because  he  was  aware  of  the  fact  that  cranes  do 
pass  the  winter  in  Africa.  For  my  own  part,  I  should  be 
incliued  to  doubt  whether  cranes  ever  reach  the  Victoria 
and  Albert  Nyanza ;  on  the  Ked  Sea  I  saw  them  in  latitude 
20°  N.,  and  Brehm  observed  them  in  Sennaar ;  on  the 
White  Nile,  however,  and  farther  inland,  I  only  found  the 
native  Balearic  crane,  which  could  hardly  have  been  the  spe- 
cies mentioned  by  Aristotle.  But  whether  cranes  were  really 
capable  of  fighting  with  Pygmies  or  not,  or  whether  (as 
Pauer  attempts  to  prove)  the  Homeric  tradition  was  derived 
from  ancient  Egyptian  symbolism,  and  so  was  an  emblematic 
representation  of  the  cranes  battling  with  the  falling  waters 
of  the  Nile  stream,  this  is  now  immaterial ;  all  that  concerns, 
us,  with  regard  to  the  present  topic,  is  that  three  or  four^ 


*  Herodotus,  ii.  32. 

t  Aristotle's  '  Hist.  Animal,'  lib.  viii.  cap.  2. 


126  THE  HEAKT  OF  AFRICA. 

centuries  before  the  Christian  era  the  Greeks  were  aware  of 
the  existence  of  a  people  inhabiting  the  districts  about  the 
sources  of  the  Nile,  who  were  remarkable  for  their  stunted 
growth.  The  circumstance  may  warrant  us,  perhaps,  in 
employing  the  designation  of  "  pygmy,"  not  for  men  literally 
a  span  long,  but  in  the  sense  of  Aristotle,  for  the  dwarf  races 
of  Equatorial  Africa. 

Throughout  the  time  that  I  had  resided  in  the  Seribas  of 
the  Bongo  territory,  of  course  I  had  frequent  opportunities 
of  enlarging  my  information,  and  I  was  continually  hearing 
such  romantic  stories  that  I  became  familiarised  in  a  way 
with  the  belief  that  the  men  about  me  had  really  been  eye- 
witnesses of  the  circumstances  they  related.  Those  who  had 
been  attached  to  the  Niam-niam  expeditions,  whenever  they 
described  the  variety  of  wonders  about  the  splendour  of  the 
courts  of  the  cannibal  kings,  never  omitted  to  mention  the 
dwarfs  who  filled  the  office  of  court  buffoons;  every  one 
outvying  another  in  the  fantastic  embellishment  of  the  tales 
they  told.  The  general  impression  that  remained  upon  my 
mind  was  that  these  must  be  some  extraordinary  specimens 
of  pathological  phenomena  that  had  been  retained  by  the 
kings  as  natural  curiosities.  The  instance  did  not  escape  my 
recollection  that  Speke  had  given  the  description  and  por- 
trait of  a  dwarf,  Kimenya,  with  whom  he  had  become 
acquainted  at  the  court  of  Kamrasi ;  *  but  that  there  could 
be  a  whole  series  of  tribes  whose  average  height  was  far 
below  an  average  never  really  found  a  reception  in  my 
understanding,  until  at  the  court  of  Munza  the  positive 
evidence  was  submitted  to  my  eyes. 

Several  days  elapsed  after  my  taking  up  my  residence  by 
the  palace  of  the  Monbuttoo  king  without  my  having  a 
chance  to  get  a  view  of  the  dwarfs,  whose  fame  had  so  keenly 
excited  my  curiosity.     My  people,  however,  assured  me  that 


■  Speke's  Travels,'  p.  550. 


ADIMOKOO  THE  AKKA.  127 

they  had  seen  them.  I  remonstrated  with  them  for  not 
liaving  secured  me  an  opportunity  of  seeing  for  myself,  and 
for  not  bringing  them  into  contact  with  me.  I  obtained  no 
other  reply  but  that  the  dwarfs  were  too  timid  to  come. 
After  a  few  mornings  my  attention  was  arrested  by  a 
shouting  in  the  camp,  and  I  learned  that  Mohammed  had 
surprised  one  of  the  Pygmies  in  attendance  upon  the  king, 
and  was  conveying  him,  in  spite  of  a  strenuous  resistance, 
straight  to  my  tent,  I  looked  up,  and  there,  sure  enougii, 
was  the  strange  little  creature,  perched  upon  Mohammed's 
right  shoulder,  nervously  hugging  his  head,  and  casting 
glances  of  alarm  in  every  direction.  Mohammed  soon  depo- 
sited him  in  the  seat  of  honour.  A  royal  interpreter  was 
stationed  at  his  side.  Thus,  at  last,  was  I  able  veritably  to 
feast  my  eyes  upon  a  living  embodiment  of  the  myths  of 
some  thousand  years ! 

Eagerly,  and  without  loss  of  time,  I  proceeded  to  take  his 
portrait.  I  pressed  him  with  innumerable  questions,  but  to 
ask  for  information  was  an  easier  matter  altogether  than  to 
get  an  answer.  There  was  the  greatest  difficulty  in  inducing 
him  to  remain  at  rest,  and  I  could  only  succeed  by  exhibiting 
a  store  of  presents.  Under  the  impression  that  the  oppor- 
tunity before  me  might  not  occur  again,  I  bribed  the 
interpreter  to  exercise  his  influence  to  pacify  the  little  man, 
to  set  him  at  his  ease,  and  to  induce  him  to  lay  aside  any 
fear  of  me  that  he  might  entertain.  Altogether  we  succeeded 
so  well  that  in  a  couple  of  hours  the  Pygmy  had  been 
measured,  sketched,  feasted,  presented  with  a  variety  of  gifts. 
and  subjected  to  a  minute  catechism  of  searching  questions. 

His  name  was  Adimokoo.  He  was  the  head  of  a  small 
colony,  which  w'as  located  about  half  a  league  from  the  royal 
residence.  With  his  own  lips  I  heard  him  assert  that  the 
name  of  his  nation  was  Akka,  and  I  further  learnt  that  they 
inhabit  large  districts  to  the  south  of  the  Monbuttoo  between 
lat.  2°  and  1"  N.     A   portion  of  them  are   subject   to  the 

Vol.  II.— lu 


^ 


128  THE  HEART  OF  AFRICA. 

Monbuttoo  king,  who,  desirous  of  enhancing  the  splendour  of 
his  court  by  the  addition  of  any  available  natural  curiosities, 
had  compelled  several  families  of  the  Pygmies  to  settle  in 
the  vicinity. 

My  Niam-niam  servants,  sentence  by  sentence,  interpreted 
to  me  everything  that  was  said  by  Adimokoo  to  the  Mon- 
buttoo interpreter,  who  was  acquainted  with  no  dialects  but 
those  of  his  own  land. 

In  reply  to  my  question  put  to  Adimokoo  as  to  where  his 
country  was  situated,  pointing  towards  the  S.S.E.,  he  said, 
"  Two  days'  journey  and  you  come  to  the  village  of  Mum- 
mery ;  on  the  third  day  you  will  reach  the  Kiver  Nalobe ; 
the  fourth  day  you  arrive  at  the  first  of  the  villages  of  the 
Akka." 

"  What  do  you  call  the  rivers  of  your  country  ?  " 

"  They  are  the  Nalobe,  the  Namerikoo,  and  the  Eddoopa." 

"  Have  you  any  river  as  large  as  the  Welle  ?  " 

"  No ;  ours  are  small  rivers,  and  they  all  flow  into  the 
Welle." 

"  Are  you  all  one  people,  or  are  you  divided  into  separate 
tribes  ?  " 

To  this  inquiry  Adimokoo  replied  by  a  sudden  gesture,  as 
if  to  indicate  the  vastness  of  their  extent,  and  commenced 
enumerating  the  tribes  one  after  another.  "  There  are  the 
Navapukah,  the  Navatipeh,  the  Vabingisso,  the  Avadzubeh, 
the  Avagowumba,  the  Bandoa,  the  Mamomoo,  and  the  Aga 
bundah." 

"  How  many  kings  ?  "   I  asked. 

"  Nine,"  he  said ;  but  I  could  only  make  out  the  names  of 
Galeema,  Beddeh,  Tindaga,  and  Mazembe. 

My  next  endeavour  was  directed  to  discover  whether  he 
was  acquainted  in  any  way  with  the  dwarf  races  that  have 
been  mentioned  by  previous  travellers,  and  whose  homes  I 
presumed  would  be  somewhere  in  this  part  of  Africa.  I 
asked  him  whether  he  knew  the  Malagilage,  who,  according 


THE  PYGMY'S  WAE-DANCE.  129 

to  the  testimony  of  Escayrac  de  Lauture,  live  to  the  south . 
of  Baghirmy.  My  question,  however,  only  elicited  a  comical 
gesture  of  bewilderment  and  a  vague  inquiry,  "  What  is 
that  ? "  Nor  did  I  succeed  at  all  better  in  securing  any 
recognition  of  the  tribes  of  the  Kenkob  or  the  Betsan,  which 
are  mentioned  by  Kolle.  Equally  unavailing,  too,  were  all 
-my  efforts  to  obtain  answers  of  any  precision  to  the  series 
of  questions  which  I  invented,  taking  my  hints  from  Peter- 
mann  and  Hassenstein's  map  of  Central  Africa,  so  that  I  was 
obliged  to  give  up  my  geographical  inquiries  in  despair  and 
turn  to  other  topics.  But  in  reality  there  did  not  occur  any 
subject  whatever  on  which  I  obtained  any  information  that 
seems  to  me  to  be  wortli  recording.  At  length,  after  having 
submitted  so  long  to  my  curious  and  persistent  questionings, 
the  patience  of  Adimokoo  was  thorougiily  exhausted,  and  he 
made  a  frantic  leap  in  his  endeavour  to  escape  from  the  tent. 
Surrounded,  however,  by  a  crowd  of  inquisitive  Bongo  and 
Nubians,  he  was  unable  to  effect  his  purpose,  and  was  com- 
pelled, against  his  will,  to  remain  for  a  little  longer.  After 
a  time  a  gentle  persuasion  was  brought  to  bear,  and  he  was 
induced  to  go  through  some  of  the  characteristic  evolutions 
of  his  war-dances.  He  was  dressed,  like  the  Monbuttoo,  in  a 
rokko-coat  and  plumed  hat,  and  was  armed  with  a  miniature 
lance  as  well  as  with  a  bow  and  arrow.  His  height  I  found 
to  be  about  4  feet  10  inches,  and  this  I  reckon  to  be  the 
average  measurement  of  his  race. 

Although  I  had  repeatedly  been  astonished  at  witnessing 
the  war-dances  of  the  Niam-niam,  I  confess  that  my  amaze- 
ment was  greater  than  ever  when  I  looked  upon  the  exhibi- 
tion which  the  Pygmy  afforded.  In  spite  of  his  large,  bloated 
Itelly  and  short  bandy  legs — in  spite  of  his  age,  which,  by 
the  way,*  was  considerable — Adimokoo's  agility  was  perfectly 
marvellous,  and  I  could  not  help  wondering  whether  cranes 
would  ever  be  likely  to  contend  with  such  creatures.  The  S. 
little  man's  leaps  and  attitudes  were  accompanied  by  such     ' 


130 


THE  HEART  OF  AFEICA. 


lively  and  grotesque  varieties  of  expression  that  the  spec- 
tators shook  again  and  held  their  sides  with  laughter.     The 

interpreter  explained 
to  the  Niam-nicim 
that  the  Akka  jump 
about  in  the  grass 
like  grasshoppers*, 
and  that  they  are  so 
nimble  that  they 
shoot  their  arrows 
into  an  elephant's 
eye  and  drive  their 
lauces  into  their 
bellies.  The  gestures 
of  the  Akka,  to  which 
I  shall  have  occasion 
again  to  refer,  always 
reminded  me  of  the 
pictures  given  by 
travellers  to  repre- 
sent the  Bushmen  of 
the  south. 

Adimokoo  returned 
home  loaded  with. 
presents,  I  made  him 
understand  that  I 
should  be  glad  to  see 
all  his  people,  and 
promised  that  they  should  lose  nothing  by  coming. 

On  the  following  day  I  had  the  pleasure  of  a  visit  from 
two  of  the  younger  meu.  1  had  the  opportunity  of  sketching 
their  likenesses,  and  as  one  of  the  portraits  has  been  pre- 
served it  is  inserted  here. 

After  they  had  once  got  over  their  alarm,  some  or  other 
of  the  Akka  came  to  me  almost  every  day.     As  exceptional 


Bomby  the  Akka. 


COLLISION  WITH  THE  AKKA.  131 

cases,  I  observed  that  some  individuals  were  of  a  taller 
stature ;  but  upon  investigation  I  alwa^^s  ascertained  that 
this  was  the  result  of  intermarriage  with  the  Monbnttoo 
amongst  whom  they  resided.  My  sudden  departure  from 
Munza's  abode  interrupted  me  completely  in  my  study  of 
this  interesting  people,  and  I  was  compelled  to  leave  before 
I  had  fully  mastered  the  details  of  their  peculiarities.  I 
regret  that  I  never  chanced  to  see  one  of  the  Akka  women, 
find  still  more  that  my  visit  to  their  dwellings  was  postponed 
from  day  to  day  until  the  opportunity  was  lost  altogether. 

I  am  not  likely  to  forget  a  rencontre  which  I  had  with 
several  hundred  Akka  warriors,  and  could  very  heartily  wish 
that  the  circumstances  had  permitted  me  to  give  a  pictorial 
representation  of  the  scene.  King  Munza's  brother  Mum- 
mery, who  was  a  kind  of  viceroy  in  the  southern  section  of 
his  dominions,  and  to  whom  the  Akka  were  tributary,  was 
just  returning  to  the  court  from  a  successful  campaign 
against  the  black  Momvoo.  Accompanied  by  a  large  band  of 
soldiers,  amongst  whom  was  included  a  corps  of  Pygmies,  he 
was  conveying  the  bulk  of  the  booty  to  his  royal  master.  It 
happened  on  the  day  in  question  that  I  had  been  making  a- 
long  excursion  with  my  Niam-niam  servants,  and  had  heard 
nothing  of  Mummery's  arrival.  Towards  sunset  I  was  passing 
along  the  extensive  village  on  my  return  to  my  quarters, 
when,  just  as  I  reached  the  wide  open  space  in  front  of  the 
royal  halls,  I  found  myself  surrounded  by  what  I  conjectured 
must  be  a  crowd  of  impudent  boys,  who  received  me  with  a 
sort  of  bravado  fi^ht.  They  pointed  their  arrows  towards 
me,  and  behaved  generally  in  a  manner  at  which  I  pould 
not  help  feeling  somewhat  irritated,  as  it  betokened  unwar- 
rantable liberty  and  intentional  disrespect.  My  misappre- 
hension was  soon  corrected  by  the  Niam-niam  people  about 
me.     "  They  are  Tikkitikki,"  *   said  they ;    "  you   imagine 


*  Tikkitikki  is  the  Niam-niam  designation  of  the  Akka. 


132  THE  HEART  OF  AFRICA. 

that  they  are  boys,  but  in  truth  they  are  men ;  nay,  men 
that  can  fight."  At  this  moment  a  seasonable  greeting  from 
Mummery  drew  me  off  from  any  apprehension  on  my  part 
and  from  any  farther  contemplation  of  the  remarkable  spec- 
tacle before  me.  In  my  own  mind  I  resolved  that  I  would 
minutely  inspect  the  camp  of  the  new-comers  on  the  following 
morning ;  but  I  had  reckoned  without  my  host :  before  dawn 
Mummery  and  his  contingent  of  Pygmies  had  taken  their 
departure,  and  thus, 

"  Like  the  baseless  fabric  of  a  vision." 

this  people,  so  near  and  yet  so  unattainable,  had  vanished 
once  more  into  the  dim  obscurity  of  the  innermost  con- 
tinent. 

Anxious,  in  my  contact  with  this  mythical  race,  to  lose 
or  pass  over  nothing  which  might  be  of  interest,  I  very 
diligently  made  memoranda  after  every  interview  that  I 
had  with  the  Akka.  I  measured  six  full-grown  individuals, 
none  of  whom  much  exceeded  4  feet  10  inches  in  height, 
but,  unfortunately,  all  my  notes  and  many  of  my  drawings 
perished  in  the  fire. 

A  brief  account  may  now  be  given  of  the  little  Pygmy 
that  I  carried  off  and  kept  with  me  during  the  remainder  of 
my  wanderings  till  I  was  again  in  Nubia,  who  for  a  year 
and  a  half  became  my  companion,  thriving  under  my  care 
and  growing  almost  as  affectionate  as  a  son. 

I  have  already  explained  in  a  previous  chapter  the  circum- 
stances under  which  the  little  man  came  into  my  keeping. 
I  succeeded  tolerably  well  in  alleviating  the  pain  of  the 
lad's  parting  from  all  his  old  associations  by  providing  him 
with  all  the  good  living  and  bestowing  upon  him  all  the 
attention  that  lay  in  my  power.  To  reconcile  him  to  his 
lot  I  broke  through  an  old  rule.  I  allowed  him  to  be  my 
constant  companion  at  my  meals — an  exception  that  I  never 
made    in   favour  of  any   other   native   of  Africa.     Making 


NSEWUE'S  DEATH.  133 

it  my  first  care  that  he  should  be  healthy  and  couteDted, 
I  SHbmitted  without  a  murmur  to  all  the  uncouth  habits 
peculiar  to  his  race.  In  Khartoom  at  last  I  dressed  him  up 
till  he  looked  like  a  little  pasha.  The  Nubians  could  not 
in  the  least  enter  into  my  infatuation,  nor  account  for  my 
partiality  towards  the  strange-looking  lad.  When  he  walked 
along  the  thoroughfares  at  my  side  they  pointed  to  him,  and 
cried,  with  reference  to  his  bright-brown  complexion,  "  See, 
there  goes  the  son  of  the  Khavaga ! "  Apparently  they 
overlooked  the  fact  of  the  boy's  age,  and  seemed  not  to  be 
in  any  way  familiarised  with  the  tradition  of  the  Pygmies. 
In  the  Seribas  all  along  our  route  the  little  fellow  excited  a 
still  greater  astonishment. 

Notwithstanding  all  my  assiduity  and  attention,  I  am 
sorry  to  record  that  Nsewue  died  in  Berber,  from  a  prolonged 
attack  of  dysentery,  originating  not  so  much  in  any  change 
of  climate,  or  any  alteration  in  his  mode  of  living,  as  in  his 
immoderate  excess  in  eating,  a  propensity  which  no  influence 
on  my  part  was  sufficient  to  control. 

During  the  last  ten  months  of  his  life,  my  protege  did 
not  make  any  growth  at  all.  I  think  I  may  therefore 
presume  that  his  height  would  never  have  exceeded  4  feet 
7  inches,  which  was  his  measurement  at  the  time  of  his 
death.  The  portrait  on  the  following  page  may  be  accepted 
as  a  faithful  representation  of  one  who  was  a  fair  type  of 
his  race. 

Altogether  very  few  examples  of  the  Akka  came  under 
my  notice;  but  so  ample  was  my  opportunity  of  studying  in 
detail  the  peculiarities  of  this  individual  specimen,  that,  in  the 
course  of  any  observations  that  follow,  I  shall  feel  justified 
in  referring  to  Nsewue,  when  the  rest  of  my  experience 
furnishes  no  other  illustration. 

The  Akka  would  appear  to  be  a  branch  of  that  series  of 
dwarf  races  which,  exhibiting  all  the  characteristics  of  an 
aboriginal  stock,  extend  along  the  equator  entirely  across 


134 


THE  HEART  OF  AFRICA, 


Nsewue  the  Akka 


Africa.  Whatever  travellers  have  })enetrated  far  into  the 
interior  of  the  continent  liave  furnished  abundant  testimony 
as  to  the  mere  hct  of  the  existence  of  tribes  of  singularly 
diminutive  height;  whilst  their  accounts  are  nearly  all 
coincident  in  representing  tliat  these  dwarf  races  differ  in 
hardly  anything  from  the  surrounding  nations  excepting 
only  in  their  size.  It  would  be  entirely  an  error  to  describe 
them  as  dwarfs  either  in  the  sense  of  the  ancient  myth?, 
or  in  the  way  of  lusus  naturse,  such  as  are  exhibited  as 
curiosities  amongst  ourselves ;  most  of  the  accounts,  more- 
over, that  have  been  given,  concur  in  the  statement  that 


THE  OBONGO.  lSr> 

these  undersized  people  are  distinguished  from  their  neigh- 
bours by  a  redder  or  brighter  shade  of  complexion  ;  but  they 
differ  very  considerably  in  the  reports  they  make  about  the 
growth  of  the  hair.  The  only  traveller,  I  believe,  before- 
myself  that  has  come  into  contact  with  any  section  of  tliisi 
race  is  Du  Chaillu,  who,  in  the  territory  of  the  Ashango. 
discovered  a  wandering  tribe  of  hunters  called  Obongo,  and 
took  the  measurements  of  a  number  of  them.  He  describes 
these  Obongo  as  "  not  ill-shaped,"  and  as  having  skins  of  a 
pale,  yellow-brown,  somewhat  lighter  than  their  neighbours : 
he  speaks  of  their  having  short  heads  of  hair,  but  a  great 
growth  of  hair  about  their  bodies.  Their  average  height 
he  affirms  to  be  4  feet  7  inches.  In  every  particular  but  the 
abundance  of  hair  about  the  person,  this  description  is  quite 
applicable  to  the  Akka.  According  to  Battel,*  there  was  a 
nation  of  dwarfs,  called  the  Matimbos  or  Doiigo,  to  the 
north-east  of  the  land  of  Tobbi,  which  lies  to  the  north  of 
the  Sette  River,  and  consequently  in  the  same  district  as 
that  in  which  Du  Chaillu  discovered  the  Obongo.  Portu- 
guese authorities,  moreover,  quite  at  the  beginning  of  the 
seventeenth  century,  contain  a  distinct  reference  to  a  dwarf 
nation  called  Bakka-bakka.  Dapper  furnishes  corresponding 
information  on  the  same  subject;  and  all  that  he  relates 
about  the  dwarfs  coincides  very  accurately  with  what  is 
known  about  the  Akka,  whose  name  had  penetrated  even 
at  that  date  to  the  western  equatorial  coasts.  It  is  to  be 
understood  that  districts  were  known  by  the  name  of  the 
people  who  chanced  to  be  occupying  them,  and  not  by  any 
permanent  name  of  the  soil  itself.  After  Dapper,  in  his 
compilation,  had  told  the  history  of  the  Yagas,  who  is  said 
in  olden  time  to  have  spread  fear  and  destruction  as  far  as 
the  coasts  of  the  Loango,  a  hundred  miles  away,  so  that  ii 
took  three  months  for  cai-avans  to  come  and  go,  he  procecls 


*   Vide  Battel.     '  Purchas  his  Pil-.,'  II.     London,  1C25,  p.  983. 


13G  •  THE  HEART  OF  AFRICA. 

to  state  that  the  greater  part  of  the  ivory  was  obtained  still 
farther  inland,  and  was  brought  from  a  people  who  were 
tributary  to  the  great  Makoko,  and  called  Mimos  or  Bakke- 
bakke.  "  These  little  men,"  he  writes,*  "  are  stated  by  the 
Yagas  to  have  the  power  of  making  themselves  invisible,  and 
consequently  can  slay  an  elephant  with  little  trouble."  And 
this  dexterity  in  killing  elephants  seems  to  be  implied  in 
another  place,t  where,  in  describing  the  court  of  Loango  and 
the  dwarfs  who  took  up  their  positions  before  the  throne,  he 
says,  "  the  negroes  affirm  that  there  is  a  wilderness  inhabited 
by  those  dwarfs,  and  where  there  are  many  elephants ;  they 
are  generally  called  Bakke-bakke,  but  sometimes  Mimos." 
Farther  on  again  J  he  speaks  of  the  empire  of  the  great 
Makoko  (described  as  lying  beyond  the  kingdom  of  Kongo, 
and  some  200  miles  or  more  inland,  north  of  the  River 
Zaire),  and  proceeds  to  specify  that  "in  the  wilderness  of 
this  country  there  are  to  be  found  the  little  people  that 
have  been  mentioned  before,  vv^ho  carry  on  the  greater  part 
of  the  ivory  trade  throughout  the  kingdom."  Besides  this  it 
is  expressly  stated  that  the  ivory  was  bartered  for  the  salt 
of  Loango.  Now  in  none  of  the  countries  that  I  visited  in 
Central  Africa  was  either  sea  salt  or  common  salt  ever  an 
article  of  commerce,  but  each  separate  nation  produced  its 
own  supply  from  ashes :  but  whilst  I  was  at  the  court  of 
Munza  I  learnt  from  the  Khartoomers  who  had  settled  there 
that,  as  matter  of  fact,  king  Munza  did  receive  tribute  from 
the  Akka  in  the  shape  of  " real  good  salt"  which  was  brought 
from  the  far  south.  Taken  in  connection  with  Dapper's 
account,  this  statement  would  seem  to  justify  the  hypothesis 
that  even  at  this  day  there  may  be  commercial  transactions 
between  the  very  heart  of  Africa,  where  the  Akka  dwell,  and 
the  western  coasts. 

Still  more  demonstrative  than  any  reports  about  Matimbos 


D  ipper,  Germ,  ed.,  Amsterd.,  p.  571.        t  lb.,  P-  527.        %  lb.,  p.  573. 


THE  KENKOB.  137 

and  Bakke-bakke,  as  proving  the  identity  of  my  Akka  with 
the  abnormally-formed  folks  previously  named,  is  the  evi- 
dence that  is  furnished  by  the  natives  of  the  Upper 
Shary  districts.  Escayrac  de  Lauture  *  was  told  of  a  Lake 
Koeidabo,  which  was  said  to  be  a  two  months'  journey  to 
the  S.S.E.  of  Masena,  the  capital  of  Baghirmy,  and  to  unite 
the  source-affluents  of  the  Shary  just  at  the  spot  where, 
according  to  the  Monbuttoo,  the  Welle  widens  into  a  bound- 
less expanse  of  water.  Somewhat  to  the  west  of  this  lake, 
he  was  informed,  were  the  dwellings  of  the  Mala-gilageh 
(literally,  men  with  tails),  who  were  of  small  stature  and 
reddish  complexion,  or,  as  the  Africans  expressed  it,  "w/wYe," 
and  covered  with  long  hair.  The  fabulous  tails  must  be 
supposed  to  be  added  by  a  kind  of  poetic  licence,  or  as  a 
concession  to  the  belief  in  marvellous  stories  that  were  rife 
throughout  the  Soudan.  It  may  with  much  probability  be 
assumed  that  the  same  districts  in  Central  Africa  must 
be ^  the  homes  of  the'Kenkob  and  Betsan,  of  whom  Kolle,t 
residing  in  Sierra  Leone,  heard  reports  from  those  who 
professed  to  have  actually  seen  them.  In  these  reports  the 
great  lake  was  very  often  referred  to.  One  of  Kolle's  in- 
formants called  it  "  Leeba,"  and  said  that  he  had  on  one 
occasion  personally  accompanied  an  embassy  that  was  com- 
missioned to  convey  a  present  of  salt  to  the  king  who 
governed  over  the  territories  by  the  shores  of  the  lake ; 
and  he  distinctly  affirmed  not  only  that  the  Kenkob  lived 
in  close  proximity  to  the  same  lake,  but  that  they  were  a 
people  only  three  or  four  feet  in  height,  but  virho  neverthe- 
less possessed  great  strength  and  were  excellent  hunters. 
Another  witness  informed  Kolle  that  he  only  knew  of  "a 
river  Keeba  "  in  that  part  of  the  country  ;  but  it  is  extremely 
likely   that  in  reality  he  was  referring  to  the  same  Lake 


*  'Bulletin  de  la  Soc.  dc  GeogiapU  de  Paris,'  torn,  x.,  1855. 
t  'Polyglotta  Africana,'  p.  12. 


138  THFJ  HEART  OF  AFRICA. 

Leeba  which,  by  repeated  geographical  investigation,  has 
been  proved  to  be  a  part  of  the  Shary :  *  he  \\ent  on  to 
describe  that  by  this  river  Eeeba  there  dwelt  a  diminutive 
race  called  Betsan,  varying  from  three  feet  to  five  feet  in 
iieight,  and  stated  that  they  had  very  long  hair  and  very 
long  beards,  adding  that  they  supported  themselves  entirely 
by  the  produce  of  the  chase. 

Both  these  witnesses  agreed  in  describing  the  hair  of  the 
dwarfs  as  long;  and  I  always  found  that  the  Niam-niani 
laid  particular  stress  upon  their  having  long  beards;  but  I 
must  confess  I  never  observed  this  characteristic  in  any 
of  the  Akka  who  came  under  my  notice. 

Nor  is  east  Tropical  Africa  without  its  representatives  of 
people  of  this  stunted  growth.  Of  these  I  may  especially 
mention  the  Doko,  who  are  reported  to  dwell  to  the  south  of 
Enarea  and  Kaffa  on  the  Upper  Juba.  Krapf,  who  has  with 
much  diligence  compared  the  various  accounts  of  many 
slaves  who  have  been  carried  away  from  the  district  .in 
question  to  Shoa,  fixes  the  habitation  of  the  Doko  as  being 
below  the  latitude  of  3°  north.  Their  height  is  compared 
with  that  of  boys  ten  years  of  age.  Even  those  who  have 
seen  them  and  (like  A.  d'Abbadie)  deny  that  they  are  dwarfs, 
yet  admit  that  they  are  under  a  medium  stature.  On  the 
coast  itself,  in  Zanzibar  and  at  Bravaj  where,  occasioned  by 
the  3Iohammedan  Somali,  there  is  a  considerable  inter- 
course with  the  districts  said  to  be  populated  by  the  Doko, 
stories  of  these  dwarfs  are  in  every  one's  mouth,  and  they 
are  termed  the  "  Berikeemo,"  i.e.  people  two  feet  high. 

This  rapid  summary  of  the  dwarf  races  that  are  known  in 
Africa  would  be  incomplete  without  a  passing  reference  to  the 
Kimos  of  Madagascar,  of  whom,  from  the  middle  of  the  seven- 
teenth century  down  to  our  own  time  the  most  contradictory 


*  In  nearly  all  the  negro  dialects  the  letters  I  and  r  are  used  indifferently  ; 
and  Africans,  as  a  rule,  very  much  confound  the  ideas  of  lake  and  river. 


PYGMIES  COMPARED  WITH  BUSHMEN.  139 

reports  have  been  in  circulation.  Any  detailed  accounts  of 
these  would  of  course  be  here  entirely  out  of  place.  Mada- 
gascar, too,  from  its  isolation,  must  ever  be  treated  inde- 
pendently. The  relation  of  its  inhabitants  to  the  inhabitants 
of  Central  Africa  is  very  doubtful.  It  will  now  suffice  to  say 
generally  that  the  evidence  appears  to  lie  open  before  us  of 
there  being  a  series  of  unestablished  and  imperfectly  developed 
nations  which,  although  they  are  now  in  their  decline,  extend 
from  ocean  to  ocean  across  the  entire  equatorial  zone  of  Africa. 

Scarcely  a  doubt  can  exist  but  that  all  these  people,  like 
the  Bushmen  of  South  Africa,  may  be  considered  as  the 
scattered  remains  of  an  aboriginal  population  now  becoming 
extinct ;  and  their  isolated  and  sporadic  existence  bears  out 
the  hypothesis.  For  centuries  after  centuries  Africa  has  been 
experiencing  the  effects  of  many  immigrations :  for  thousands 
of  years  one  nation  has  been  driving  out  another,  and  as  the 
result  of  repeated  subjugations  and  interminglings  of  race 
with  race,  such  manifold  changes  have  been  introduced  into 
the  conditions  of  existence  that  the  succession  of  new  phases, 
like  the  development  in  the  world  of  plants,  appears  almost 
as  it  were  to  open  a  glimpse  into  the  infinite. 

Incidentally  I  have  just  referred  to  the  Bushmen,  those 
notorious  natives  of  the  South  African  forests,  who  owe  their 
name  to  the  likeness  which  the  Dutch  colonists  conceived 
they  bore  to  the  ape,  as  the  prototype  of  the  human  race.  I 
may  further  remark  that  their  resemblance  to  the  equatorial 
Pygmies  is  in  many  points  very  striking.  Gustav  Fritsch, 
the  author  of  a  standard  work  upon  the  natives  of  Soutli 
Africa,  first  drew  my  attention  to  the  marked  similarity 
between  my  portraits  of  the  Akka  and  the  general  type  of 
the  Bushmen,  and  so  satisfied  did  I  become  in  my  own 
mind  that  I  feel  quite  justified  (in  my  observations  upon 
the  Akka)  in  endeavouring  to  prove  that  all  the  tribes 
of  Africa  whose  proper  characteristic  is  an  abnormal!}  low 
stature  belone:  to  one  and  the  self-same  race. 


140  THE  HEART  OF  AFRICA. 

According  to  Fritsch  the  average  height  of  the  genuine 
Bushmen  is  1*44  metres,  or  about  4  feet  8^  inches;  the 
height  of  the  two  Akka,  whose  portraits  I  have  inserted, 
were  4  feet  1  inch  and  4  feet  4  inches  respectively ;  and,  as 
I  have  said,  I  never  saw  any  instance  in  which  the  height 
materially  exceeded  4  feet  10  inches.  The  skin  of  the  Akka 
is  of  a  dull  brown  tint,  something  of  the  colour  of  partially 
roasted  coffee.  As  far  as  I  can  remember,  the  colour  would 
correspond  nearly  with  Nos.  7  and  8  in  the  table  of  skin- 
tints  in  Plate  49  of  Fritsch's  work,  and  these  are  the 
numbers  by  which  he  indicates  the  complexion  of  the 
Bushmen.  It  is  somewhat  difficult  to  discriminate  between 
the  complexion  of  the  Akka  and  that  of  their  neighbours 
the  Monbuttoo,  since  the  latter  exhibit  a  variety  of  shades 
of  the  same  tint ;  but  I  should  be  inclined  to  say  that  the 
distinction  lies  in  the  somewhat  duller  hue  of  the  Akka, 
such  as  might  be  understood  by  comparing  .No,  2  with 
No.  8  in  the  table  to  which  I  have  referred. 

The  hair  and  beard  are  but  slightly  developed.  All  the 
Akka  that  I  saw  wore  the  ordinary  costume  and  cylindrical 
straw  hat  of  the  Monbuttoo;  but,  in  consequence  of  their 
hair  being  short  as  well  as  woolly,  they  are  unable  to  form 
a  chignon  like  their  neighbours.  The  colour  of  their  hair 
corresponds  with  their  complexion;  in  texture  it  may  best 
be  compared  with  the  waste  tow  from  old  cordage.  This 
absence  of  the  beard  is  characteristic  also  of  the  Bushmen. 
The  Nubians  indeed  used  to  tell  me  of  the  dwarfs  about  the 
courts  of  the  Niam-niam  princes  being  noted  for  long  hair, 
and  they  affirmed  that  some  of  them,  in  the  fashion  of  the 
West  Africans,  were  in  the  habit  of  stiffening  put  their  long 
pointed  tufts  of  hair  on  their  chin  with  pitch ;  no  doubt,  too, 
their  common  designation  for  this  people  (Shebber  digintoo) 
has  reference  to  this  characteristic ;  but  I  could  never  succeed 
in  getting  any  accurate  or  more  definite  information  about 
dwarfs  of  this  species.     The  Akka  resemble  the  majority  of 


CHARACTERISTICS  OF  THE  AKKA.  141 

the  Monbuttoo  in  having  brown  hair,  other  nations  of  a 
reddish  tone  of  complexion  not  sharing  this  peculiarity. 

Taking,  as  I  have  said,  my  little  protege  Nsewue  as  a  fair 
type  of  the  Akka  m  general,  I  will  proceed  to  enumerate  the 
most  prominent  marks  in  their  common  appearance. 

The  head  of  the  Akka  is  large,  and  out  of  proportion  to 
the  weak,  thin  neck  on  which  it  is  balanced.  The  shape  of 
the  shoulders  is  peculiar,  differing  entirely  from  that  of  other 
negroes  in  a  way  that  may  probably  be  accounted  for  by  the 
unusual  scope  required  for  the  action  of  the  shoulder-blades ; 
the  arms  are  lanky ;  and  altogether  the  upper  portion  of  the 
body  has  a  measurement  disproportionately  long.  The  su- 
perior region  of  the  cliest  is  ilat  and  much  contracted,  but 
it  widens  out  below  to  support  the  huge  hanging  belly, 
which  gives  them,  however  aged,  the  remarkable  appearance 
of  Arabian  or  Egyptian  children.  The  look  of  the  Akka 
from  behind  is  very  singular.  Their  body  seeming  then  to 
form  a  curve  so  regular  and  defined  that  it  is  almost  like 
a  letter  S ;  this  is  probably  to  be  accounted  for  by  an 
exceptional  suppleness  in  the  lower  joints  of  tlie  spine,  since 
after  a  full  meal  the  centre  of  gravity  is  shifted,  and  the 
curve  of  the  back  accordingly  becomes  more  or  less  concave. 
All  the  various  personal  traits  of  the  Akka  to  which  I  have 
thus  referred  are  illustrated  very  plainly  in  Fritsch's  work 
by  the  figure  (No.  69)  which  represents  an  old  Bushman. 

The  joints  of  the  legs  are  angular  and  projecting,  except 
that  the  knees  are  plump  and  round.  Unlike  other  Africans, 
who  ordinarily  walk  with  their  feet  straight,  the  Akka  turn 
them  somewhat  inward.  I  hardly  know  how  to  describe 
their  waddling;  every  step  they  take  is  accompanied  by  a 
lurch  that  seems  to  affect  all  their  limbs  alike ;  and  Nsewue 
could  never  manage  to  carry  a  full  dish  for  any  distance 
without  spilling  at  least  a  portion  of  its  contents. 

Of  all  their  members  their  hands  were  undoubtedly  the 
best  formed.     These  might  really  be  pronounced  elegant, 


142  THE  HEART  OF  AFRICA. 

alt  hough  1  do  not  mean  that  they  were  in  the  least  like  the 
long  narrow  ladies'  hands  that  are  so  lauded  in  romance,  but 
which  Carl  Vogt  has  characterised  as  appropriate  to  the 
monkey  type.  Nothing  about  my  poor  little  favourite  ever 
excited  my  admiration  to  the  same  degree  as  his  pretty  little 
hands,  and  so  attentively  have  I  studied  every -part  of  his 
singular  form  that  not  even  the  smallest  detail  has  escaped 
my  memory. 

But  all  the  peculiarities  of  the  race  culminate  in  the 
shape  of  the  skull  and  in  the  physiognomical  character  of 
the  head.  As  matter  of  fact,  history  has  not  exhibited  that 
auy  general  degeneracy  in  a  nation  has  ever  been  attended 
by  a  general  decrease  in  a  people's  stature ;  but  still  it  is 
quite  possible  that  the  peculiarities  I  have  already  mentioned 
might  originate  in  some  modification  of  the  way  of  living. 
Any  attempt,  however,  to  attribute  the  formation  of  the 
skull  to  the  effects  either  of  circumstance,  of  food,  or  oi' 
climate  must  at  once  be  rejected  as  inadmissible.  The  most 
noticeable  points  in  the  structure  of  the  heads  of  the  Akka 
is  their  high  degree  of  j^rognathie.  The  two  portraits  that 
are  given  exhibit  facial  angles  of  60°  and  66°  respectively. 
Besides  this  they  are  remarkable  for  the  snout-like  projection 
of  the  jaw  with  an  unprotruding  chin,  and  for  the  wide  skull 
which  is  almost  spherical,  and  which  has  a  deep  indentation 
at  the  base  of  the  nose.  These  leading  resemblances 
indubitably  exist  between  the  Akka  and  the  Bushmen: 
and  where  the  general  similarity  is  so  great,  all  minor  dis- 
crepancies must  sink  into  insignificance. 

All  the  accounts  of  the  South  African  Bushmen  agree  in 
representing  that  their  eyes  are  small  and  their  eyelids  con- 
tracted. "  Their  eyes,"  says  Lichtenstein,  "  are  small,  deeply 
set,  and  so  compressed  as  to  be  scarcely  visible."  Fritseh  lays 
special  stress  upon  this  peculiarity  of  tlie  Bushmen,  but  at 
the  same  time  draws  attention  to  the  likeness  of  expression 
between  them  and  the  Hottentots,  who  otherwise  differ  from 


COMPARISON  OF  AKKA  WITH  BUSHMEJ^.  143 

them  so  widely.  Now  the  Akka,  on  the  other  hand,  have 
large  eyes,  wide  open,  so  as  to  give  them  the  bird-like  appear- 
ance of  Azteks;  and  does  not  Bomby's  portrait,*  I  may  ask, 
recall  the  Azteks  who  a  few  years  ago  were  exhibited  in 
Europe  ?  Amid  the  multitude  of  resemblances  this  may  be 
said  to  be  the  only  important  difference  between  the  Akka 
and  the  Bushmen,  and  probably  even  this  may  be  accounted 
for  as  beiug  the  effect  either  of  food  or  climate,  in  the  same 
way  as  the  weather-beaten  countenance  of  the  mariner  may 
be  attributed  to  the  life  of  exposure  that  he  has  led. 

Setting  aside,  however,  this  diversity  with  regard  to  the 
eyes,  the  heads  of  the  Akka  and  the  Bushmen  will  be  found 
to  present  various  points  of  similarity  in  other  respects. 
The  Akka  are  distinguished  from  all  other  nations  of  Central 
Africa  by  the  huge  size  of  the  ear.  Now,  however  small,  in 
an  aesthetic  sense,  the  negroes'  pretensions  to  any  beauty 
may  ordinarily  be  supposed  to  be,  it  must  be  conceded  that 
they  can  vie  with  any  race  whatever  in  the  elegance  and 
symmetrical  shape  of  their  ears ;  but  no  share  of  this  grace 
can  be  assigned  either  to  the  Bushmen  or  to  the  Akka. 

The  lips  project  in  a  way  that  corresponds  completely 
with  the  projecting  jaw.  They  are  long  and  convex ;  they 
do  not  overlap,  and  are  not  so  thick  as  those  of  the  generality 
of  negroes.  What  really  suggests  the  resemblance  to  an 
ape  is  the  sharply-defined  outline  of  the  gapiug  mouth ;  for 
the  pouting  lips  of  most  negroes  convey  no  idea  at  all  of 
relationship  with  inferior  animals.  These  gaping  lips,  again, 
are  possessed  by  the  Akka  in  common  with  the  Bushmen, 
whose  profiles  may  be  seen  in  the  illustrations  given  by 
Fritsch ;  they  are  not  found  at  all  amongst  the  Monbuttoo. 

The  continual  changes  of  expression  which,  as  Liehtenstein 
observes,  play  upon  the  countenance  and  render  the  Bush- 
men like  apes  rather  than  human  beings  are  exhibited  to  a 


*  Vide  ante,  p.  130. 

Vol.  II.— 11 


144  THE  HEART  OF  AFKICA. 

very  renmrkable  degree  by  the  Akka.  The  twitching  of  the 
eyebrows  (in  tliis  case  still  more  animated  by  the  brightness 
of  the  eyes),  the  rapid  gestures  with  the  hands  and  feet  while 
talking,  the  incessant  wagging  and  nodding  of  the  head,  all 
combine  to  give  a  very  grotesque  appearance  to  the  little 
people,  and  serve  to  explain  the  fund  of  amusement  derived 
from  the  visit  of  Adimokoo. 

Of  the  language  of  the  Akka  I  must  confess  my  entire 
ignorance,  having  lost  the  few  notes  that  I  possessed.  I 
remember  that  I  was  much  struck  by  the  inarticulateness  of 
the  pronunciation.  During  the  year  and  a  half  that  ■myjproUge 
was  domesticated  with  me  he  was  unable  to  learn  sufficient 
Arabic  to  make  himself  understood ;  in  this  respect  he  was 
very  different  to  the  other  natives  a'bout  me,  who  made  them- 
selves masters  of  a  copious  vocabulary.  He  never  advanced 
beyond  stammeriug  out  a  few  Bongo  phrases,  which  no  one  ex- 
cept myself  and  a  few  of  my  own  peoj^le  could  comprehend. 

Although  I  was  informed  that  circumcision  was  practised 
by  the  Akka,  I  could  never  ascertain  whether  it  was  really 
an  indigenous  custom,  or  whether  it  was  merely  borrowed 
from  the  Monbuttoo,  and  so  adopted  by  such  of  the  Akka  as 
had  settled  near  the  court  of  Munza. 

In  acuteness,  dexterity,  and  it  must  be  added  in  cunning, 
the  Akka  far  surpass  the  Monbuttoo.  They  are  kut 
i^o')(i]v,  a  nation  of  hunters.  The  cunning,  however,  which 
they  display  is  but  the  outward  expression  of  an  inner 
impulse  which  seems  to  prompt  them  to  find  a  delight  in 
wickedness.  Nsewue  was  always  fond  of  torturing  animals, 
and  took  a  special  pleasure  in  throwing  arrows  at  the  dogs 
by  night.  During  the  period  in  which  we  were  involved  in 
war,  and  while  my  servants  were  almost  beside  themselves 
with  anxiety,  nothing  afforded  him  greater  amusement  than 
to  play  with  the  heads  that  had  been  severed  from  the  slain 
A-Banga ;  and  when  I  boiled  some  of  the  skulls  his  delight 
knew    no    bounds ;    he    rushed    about   the   camp    shouting, 


RELATIONS  OF  THE  AKKA  WITH  THE  MONBUTTOO.     145 

"Bakinda,*  nova?  Bakinda  be  he  koto"  (Where  is  Ba- 
kinda?  Bakinda  is  in  the  pot!)  Such  a  people  as  this 
would  naturally  excel  in  the  inventive  faculty  for  laying 
traps  and  snares  for  game. 

Like  the  Obongo  and  the  Bushmen,  as  I  myself  expe- 
rienced during  my  first  rencontre  with  Adimokoo,  the  Akka 
are  extremely  shy  with  other  men. 

Their  only  domestic  animals  are  poultry ;  and  it  struck 
rae  as  a  coincidence  somewhat  curious  that  one  of  the 
Pompeian  mosaics  which  I  saw  in  the  National  Museum  at 
Naples  represents  the  Pygmies  in  the  midst  of  their  little 
houses,  which  are  depicted  as  full  of  common  fowls. 

It  is  notorious  that  the  natives  of  South  Africa  in  general 
have  vowed  death  and  destruction  against  the  Bushmen, 
reckoning  them  as  incorrigibly  wild  and  in  no  way  superior 
to  apes  of  the  most  dangerous  character.  Now  the  dwarfs  of 
Central  Africa,  although  they  fall  little  short  of  the  Bushmen 
in  natural  maliciousness,  are  not  regarded  as  mischievous 
fiends  who  must  be  exterminated  like  a  brood  of  adders,  but 
they  are  considered  rather  as  a  sort  of  benevolent  spirits  or 
mandrakes  who  are  in  no  way  detrimental.  They  are  of 
assistance  to  the  Monbuttoo  in  securing  them  a  more  abun- 
dant produce  from  the  chase,  and  so  they  enjoy  the  protec- 
tion of  their  neighbours  very  much  in  the  same  way  as 
(according  to  Du  Chaillu)  the  Obongo  enjoy  the  protection 
of  the  Ashango.  These  amicable  relations,  however,  would 
not  be  possible  but  for  the  reason  that  the  Monbuttoo  possess 
no  herds.  If  the  Monbuttoo  were  a  cattle-breeding  people, 
it  cannot  be  doubted  that  the  Akka  would  consider  all  their 
animals  as  game,  and  could  not  deny  themselves  the  delight 
of  driving  their  spears  into  the  flanks  of  every  beast  they 
could  get  near,  and  by  these  tactics  would  very  soon  convert 
their  guardians  into  enemies. 


*  "Bakinda,"  is  a  mere  derisive  nickname. 


146 


THE  HEART  01^'  AFIUCA. 


Munza  supplies  all  the  Akka  who  have  settled  near  him 
with  the  best  of  diet,  and  Nsewue  was  never  weary  of 
descanting  in  praise  of  the  flasks  of  beer,  the  plantain  wine, 
the  ears  of  corn,  and  all  the  other  delicacies  with  which  his 
people  were  feasted. 

I  will  only  add  that  a  debt  of  gratitude  is  due  from  the 
students  of  ethnology  to  the  Monbuttoo  king,  who  has  been 
instrumental  in  preserving  this  remnant  of  a  declining  race 
until  the  time  has  come  for  the  very  heart  of  Africa  to  be 
laid  open. 


DinKaPipe.    (See  description,  vol.  i.,  p.  292.) 


CHAPTER    XVII. 

Return  to  th,e  North.  Tikkitikki's  reluctance  to  start.  Passage  of  the  Gadda. 
Sounding  the  Keebaly.  The  river  Kahpily.  Cataracts  of  the  Keebaly. 
Kubby's  refusal  of  boats.  Our  impatience.  Crowds  of  hippopotamuses. 
Possibility  of  fording  the  river.  Origin  and  connection  of  the  Keebaly. - 
Division  of  highland  and  lowland.  Geographical  expressions  of  Aiabs  and 
Nubians.  Mohammedan  perversions.  Return  to  Nembey.  Bivouac  in 
the  border-wilderness.  Eating  wax.  The  Niam-niara  declare  war.  Parley 
with  the  enemy.  My  mistrust  of  the  guides.  Treacherous  attack  on 
Mohammed.  Mohammed's  dangerous  wound.  Open  war.  Detruncated 
heads.  Effect  of  arrows.  Mohammed's  defiance.  Attack  on  the  abattis. 
Pursuit  of  the  enemy.  Inexplicable  appearance  of  10,000  men.  Wando's 
unpropitious  omen.  My  Niam-niam  and  their  oracle.  Mohammed's  speedy 
ciire.  Solar  phenomenon.  Dogs  barbarously  speared.  Women  captured. 
Niam-niam  affection  for  their  wives.  Calamus.  Upper  course  of  the 
Mbrwole.  Fresh  captive.  Her  composure.  Alteration  in  scenery.  Arrival 
at  the  Nabambisso. 

After  a  sojourn  of  three  weeks,  the  12th  of  April  was  fixed 
for  the  raising  of  our  camp  and  for  the  departure  of  our 
caravan  from  the  residence  of  the  Monbuttoo  king. 

For  myself  it  was  with  a  sad  and  heavy  heart  that  I  had 
to  begin  retracing  my  steps  towards  the  north.  How  bitter 
was  my  disappointment  may  well  be  imagined.  I  could  not 
be  otherwise  than  aware  that  I  was  leaving  behind  my  only 
chance  of  answering  some  of  those  important  questions  that 
might  be  propounded  to  me ;  and  my  regret  was  aggravated 
by  the  conviction  that  a  journey  comparatively  short  would 
now  have  brought  me  to  the  sources  of  the  three  great  rivers 
of  the  west,  the  only  streams  that  are  absolutely  closed  to 
our  geographical  knowledge,  viz,  the  Benwe,  the  Ogawai, 
and  the  Congo.     Distant  as  I  was  hardly  more  than  450 


148  THE  HEAllT  OF  AFRICA. 

miles  from  the  limit  that  had  been  reached  by  Livingstone,  I 
could  discern,  as  1  fondly  imagined,  from  Munza's  residence, 
a  path  clearly  open  towards  the  south-west  which  would 
conduct  me  to  the  Congo  and  to  the  states  of  the  mighty 
Mwata  Yanvo;  it  appeared  to  me  to  be  a  path  that,  once 
explored,  would  solve  the  remaining  problems  of  the  heart  of 
Africa  as  decidedly  as  the  sword  of  Alexander  severed  the 
Gordian  knot,  and  now,  just  when  there  was  only  one  more 
district  to  be  traversed  and  that  not  larger  than  what  we 
had  already  passed  since  leaving  the  Gazelle,  to  be  obliged 
to  abandon  further  progress  and  to  leave  the  mysterious 
secrets  still  unravelled  was  a  hardship  to  which  it  was 
impossible  patiently  to  submit.  But  there  was  no  alternative, 
and,  however  reluctantly,  I  had  to  yield. 

I  have  already  spoken  of  the  various  obstacles  to  any 
further  advance;  I  must,  however,  again  insist  upon  my 
conviction  that  any  single  traveller,  provided  he  had  not  an 
undue  proportion  of  flesh  (for  to  be  fat  would  be  fatal),  might 
march  on  unhindered  down  the  Welle  as  far  as  Baghirmy, 
since  the  population  was  all  well  disposed  enough  as  far  as 
regards  the  white  man.  But  any  attempt  to  carry  on  an 
entire  caravan  in  that  direction  would  have  met  with  the 
most  strenuous  opposition  on  the  part  of  King  Munza ;  his 
indirect  influence  might  have  enabled  travellers  to  descend 
as  far  to  the  south  as  lat.  2°  N. ;  but  for  this  his  sanction 
would  have  had  to  be  purchased  by  an  enormous  contribution 
of  copper. 

The  first  event  of  the  morning  of  our  start  occasioned  no 
small  stir  amongst  the  Nubians.  Mohammed  Aboo  Sammat 
had  established  a  Seriba  in  the  place,  for  the  garrisoning  of 
which  twenty-eight  men  had  to  be  left  behind,  and  several 
hours  elapsed  before  the  necessary  conscription  could  be 
accomplished.  Apart  from  myself,  depressed  as  I  was  by 
my  disappointment,  every  one  else  was  elated  at  the  prospect 
of  returning,  so  that  no  penalty  could  be  considered  much 


TIKKlTIKKrS  FAREWELL.  149 

heavier  than  being  compelled  to  tarry  in  this  remote  region 
for  one  or  two  years,  and  possibly  longer,  to  be  the  associates 
of  cannibals ;  each  man  accordingly  upon  whom  the  unlucky 
destiny  chanced  to  fall  received  his  orders  to  remain  with 
the  loudest  murmurs  of  dissatisfaction,  and  the  outcry  and 
contention  threatened  to  be  interminable.  At  length,  by 
cajoling,  by  bribing,  by  promises  of  ample  pay,  and,  it  must 
be  added,  by  the  representation  of  the  lives  of  frolic  they 
would  lead  with  the  Monbuttoo  women,  the  malcontents  were 
persuaded  unwillingly  to  acquiesce  in  their  fate. 

It  was  noon  before  the  column  was  actually  in  motion. 
The  Nubians  parted  from  their  companions  with  the  most 
touching  embraces ;  the  crowds  of  chattering  Monbuttoo 
surrounded  the  encampment  and  watched  with  vivid  interest 
the  thousand  gestures  of  farewell,  whilst  the  negro-bearers, 
silent  and  stolid  as  ever,  set  forward  on  their  way. 

During  this  parting  scene  my  little  Tikkitikki  (as  the 
Niam-niam  called  the  Pygmy  who  had  been  presented  to  me 
a  few  days  previously)  was  seized  with  an  apparent  fit  of 
home  sickness ;  he  set  up  such  a  dismal  howling  and  sobbed 
so  bitterly  that  I  confess  I  was  for  a  while  undecided  whether 
I  would  really  carry  him  away,  but  I  soon  discovered  that  it 
was  only  the  uninitiated  who  could  be  imposed  upon  by  his 
behaviour.  He  was  not  bewailing  the  loss  of  his  home,  for 
he  was  utterly  ignorant  as  to  where  that  home  had  been ; 
neither  was  he  deploring  his  separation  from  his  kinsfolk, 
for  they  stood  by,  gesticulating  wildly,  and  only  mocked  at 
his  distress.  The  fact  was,  he  was  influenced  solely  by  his 
dread  of  strangers.  He  was  in  mortal  fear  of  being  eaten 
up.  It  very  rarely  happens  among  the  Monbuttoo  that 
natives  are  surrendered  to  the  Nubians  for  slaves :  the 
occasion  therefore  of  a  present  being  made  of  a  human 
creature  would  only  too  readily  suggest  the  thought  that 
some  ulterior  destination  for  cannibal  purposes  was  in  view. 
Altogether  inadequate  to  appease  Tikkitikki's  fears  as  to  his 


150  THE  HEART  OF  AB^RICA. 

approaching  fate  was  the  gorgeous  silk  jacket  in  whicli  I 
arrayed  him,  and  it  was  with  no  little  satisfaction  that  I 
found  I  could  pacify  him  by  offering  him  the  choicest 
morsels  that  I  could  procure  for  him  to  eat.  After  spending 
a  few  days  with  me  in  my  tent,  and  finding  himself  treated 
with  all  the  dainties  that  the  country  could  produce,  he 
forgot  his  troubles,  laid  aside  his  apprehensions,  and  became 
as  happy  as  a  little  prince. 

From  the  splendid  thi(;kets  upon  the  banks  of  the  rivulets 
which  streamed  across  our  path  I  gathered  all  the  specimens 
I  could  of  the  flora  of  this  distant  land,  and  all  along  our' 
return  journey  I  lost  no  available  opportunity  of  contributing 
any  novelty  to  my  botanical  store. 

For  about  five  miles  we  followed  the  route  by  which  we; 
had  arrived,  proceeding  in  a  north-easterly  direction  until 
we  reached  the  mounds  of  gneiss  that  lay  before  the  third 
stream.  Making  a  little  detour  to  the  left  I  mounted  the 
eminences,  which  were  crowned  with  some  fine  fig-trees, 
whence  I  could  watch  our  long  caravan  winding  amongst  the 
plantain-groves  ;  now  and  then  my  view  of  the  cortege  would 
be  obstructed  by  some  rising  oil-palms,  and  finally  the  train 
would  disappear  in  the  obscurity  of  the  gallery-forest.  The 
streams  were  now  much  swollen,  and  their  passage  entailed 
not  only  a  considerable  loss  of  time  but  some  trial  of 
strength.  The  paths  were  so  narrow  that  we  were  compelled 
to  proceed  in  single  file,  not  unfrequently  being  obliged  to 
halt  in  places  where  the  shadows  of  the  forest  were  far  too 
light  to  afford  us  any  protection  fiora  the  raging  heat.  Upon 
these  occasions  I  found  a  draught  from  a  calabash  of  plan- 
tain-wine very,  refreshing.  Every  now  and  then  I  had 
recourse  to  a  pipe.  Altogether,  however,  in  spite  of  its  in- 
conveniences the  journey  was  through  scenery  so  charming 
that  it  could  not  be  otherwise  than  enjoyable. 

After  crossing  the  third  brook  we  made  a  turn  to  the 
right,  thus  entering  upon  a  way  that  was  new  to  us.     Having 


THE  GADDA.  151 

traversed  an  open  steppe  along  the  edge  of  a  gallery  extend- 
ing to  the  north-east,  we  encamped  at  nightfall  at  a  farmstead 
near  the  river  Gadda.  Half-an-hour's  march  in  the  morning 
brought  us  to  the  river  bank. 

In  its  dimensions  the  Gadda  resembles  the  Wow  just 
above  its  junction  with  the  Dyoor,  but  it  does  not  exhibit 
the  same  periodical  changes  in  the  volume  of  its  waters  ;  its 
bed  remains  full  throughout  the  year,  and  at  this  date 
(April  13th)  I  found  that  it  was  155  feet  wide  and  but  3 
feet  deep,  its  velocity  being  57  feet  in  a  minute.  The  banks 
were  bounded  by  light  woods,  and  the  soil  not  being  subject 
to  any  further  inundations  had  only  a  gentle  slope ;  the  flood- 
marks  on  the  shore  proved  the  difference  between  the  highest 
and  lowest  conditions  of  the  river  to  be  20  feet.  The  Gadda 
has  its  source  far  to  the  south-east,  and,  flowing  across  the 
dominions  of  the  Monbuttoo  king  Degberra,  joins  the 
Keebaly :  the  united  streams  then  receive  the  name  of  the 
Welle. 

Without  unnecessary  loss  of  time  we  forded  the  sandy 
river-bed,  and,  continuing  our  march  for  about  another  half 
hour,  arrived  at  the  left  bank  of  the  Keebaly.  The  river  here 
exhibited  much  the  same  character  as  the  Welle  at  the  spot 
where  we  had  forded  it  upon  our  outward  journey,  but  I 
presume  it  was  somewhat  narrower,  as  by  trigonometrical 
measurement  I  found  that  its  width  was  only  325  feet. 

By  the  orders  of  the  king  boats  were  in  readiness  to  con- 
vey the  caravan  across,  and  the  ferrymen  did  their  work  so 
well  and  quickly  that  the  entire  passage  was  accomplished 
in  three  hours.  While  the  transit  was  being  effected  I  took 
the  opportunity  of  embarking  in  a  canoe  for  the  purpose  of 
estimating  the  depth  and  velocity  of  the  stream,  an  operation 
in  which  I  was  materially  assisted  by  the  greater  experience 
of  my  servant  Mohammed  Ameen.  In  the  same  way  as  I 
noticed  on  the  Welle,  the  current  was  much  stronger  on  the 
northern  or  right  sliore ;  by  throwing  a  gourd  upon  the  flood 


152  THE  HEART  OF  AFRICA. 

and  observing  the  number  of  feet  it  progressed  in  a  minute,  1 
estimated  the  ratio  of  the  currents  upon  the  opposite  banks  to 
be  as  15 :  19.  Tlie  depth  was  between  12  and  13  feet,  and  there 
were  neither  rocks  nor  sand-banks  in  this  part  of  the  river-bed. 

As  I  stood  in  the  long  grass  superintending  the  stowage  of 
the  baggage,  I  was  very  considerably  inconvenienced  by  the 
inquisitiveness  of  the  natives,  who  persisted  in  thronging 
close  around.  In  order  to  get  free  from  their  intrusion  I 
was  glad  to  resort  to  all  kinds  of  artifices,  such  as  throwing 
some  lighted  touchwood  amongst  them,  and  treating  them  to 
a  few  cartridges.  After  the  last  bearer  had  started  and 
they  observed  that  I  still  continued  to  paddle  up  and  down 
the  stream,  their  curiosity  knew  no  bounds.  Trusting  to  the 
superiority  of  our  firearms  and  the  protection  of  my  own 
servants,  I  felt  perfectly  secure  and  enjoyed  the  bewildered 
surprise  with  which  the  natives  who  crowded  the  banks 
surveyed  our  evolutions.  The  dexterous  swimming  and 
diving  of  my  Nubians  excited  the  liveliest  interest,  and  every 
time  the  sounding-lead  was  dipped  it  was  watched  as  eagerly 
as  if  it  were  about  to  draw  forth  from  the  deep  some  treasure 
of  the  Nibelungen. 

Northward  again.  We  passed  the  farmsteads  of  the  local 
overseer  Parra,  crossed  the  brook  Mboolah,  and  pitched  our 
camp  at  a  hamlet  but  a  few  miles  from  the  stream.  The 
remainder  of  the  day  I  spent  in  botanizing.  I  made  my  way 
into  the  thickets,  and  found  some  splendid  representatives  of 
such  large-leaved  plants  as  the  philodendra,  calladia,  and 
marantha,  which  gleamed  with  a  metallic  sheen.  The  over- 
seer was  very  liberal :  he  supplied  us  freely  with  beer,  and 
the  greater  part  of  the  night  was  spent  in  friendly  intercourse 
with  the  natives,  who  found,  as  ever,  my  hair  and  my  lucifers 
to  be  an  uafailing  source  of  interest.  Myself  the  people 
designated  as  "a  good  man,"  and,  satisfied  that  I  had  come 
irom  the  skies,  they  interpreted  my  arrival  as  a  token  of 
peace  and  happiness. 


BOXGWA.  153 

Our  road  on  the  following  day  lay  through  a  country  that 
was  generally  open,  and  we  had  no  stream  to  cross  until  we 
reached  the  brook  Bumba,  near  the  village  of  Bongwa. 
Here  we  regained  our  former  route.  The  country  .was  per- 
fectly safe,  and  I  was  accordingly  able  to  march  with  my 
own  people  in  the  rear  of  the  caravan,  and  devote  my  atten- 
tion to  my  botanical  researches.  The  hamlets  that  we  passed 
were  pleasant  resting-places,  and  as  we  halted  under  the 
welcome  sliade  of  the  foliage,  the  natives  rarely  failed  to 
hasten  out  and  bring  fresh  plantains  for  our  refresh- 
ment. 

At  Bongwa  we  made  a  halt  for  a  whole  day,  for  the  pur- 
pose of  giving  the  smiths  an  opportunity  of  working,  as  it 
was  necessary  for  our  copper  bars  to  be  transformed  into 
some  thousands  of  rings.  For  my  own  part  I  found  ample 
employment  in  sketching,  and  in  adding  what  T  could  to  my 
store  of  curiosities.  The  victualling  of  the  caravan,  more- 
over, had  become  a  matter  of  increased  difficulty;  it  was 
now  the  season  for  planting  out,  and  all  the  roots  and  tubers 
which  the  natives  had  spared  from  the  preceding  year  had 
just  been  put  into  the  ground,  so  that  there  was  a  general 
scarcity  of  provisions ;  a  fact  that  was  brought  home  to  our 
own  experience,  when  we  found  that  the  yams  that  were 
supplied  to  us  had  already  commenced  throwing  out  their 
fresh  sprouts. 

Eetracing  our  former  track  we  crossed  by  fording  the  six 
approximate  streams  that  it  may  be  remembered  I  noticed 
on  our  advance.  On  our  arrival  at  Nembey's  residence,  we 
at  once  found  shelter  in  the  camp-huts  that  had  been  erected 
at  our  last  visit,  and  which  were  still  in  a  very  fair  state  of 
preservation.  I  took  a  long  ramble  and  made  a  careful 
inspection  of  the  phmtations  of  sugar-cane  in  the  adjoining 
wildernesses  upon  the  river-banks ;  my  first  impression  was 
that  the  canes  were  a  rank  spontaneous  growth,  but  I  was 
distinctly  and  repeatedly  assured  tliat  they  were  nowhere,  bv 


154  THE  HEART  OF  AFllICA. 

any  chance,  found  wild,  and  would  not  thrive  without  the  aid 
of  man. 

Wando's  territory  was  before  us.     It  now  became  a  matter 
of  serious  consideration  how  our  progress  across  that  hostile 
district  should  be  accomplished.     Mohammed's  first  sugges- 
tion was  that  we  should  take  a  circuitous  rqute  far  to  the 
east,  and  then  that  he  should  himself  return  with  his  armed 
forces  strengthened  by  a  complement  from  his  head  Seriba 
on  the  Nabambisso,  and  thus  proceed  to  resque  the  store  of 
ivory  that  had  been  entrusted  to  Wando's  care.     To  this 
scheme  no  doubt  there  were  various  objections.     The  new 
route  would  be  entirely  unknown  to  the  Nubians,  and  as, 
beyond  a  question,  it  would  lead  across  wildernesses  utterly 
void  of  any  population,  the  caravan  would  necessarily  have 
to  endure   no  small    measure  of  privation.      In    any  case 
trustworthy  guides  wouM    be  necessary  in  order  that   the 
caravan  might  arrive  at  its  destination  in   any  seasonable 
time.     Notwithstanding  all  difficulties,  Mohammed  resolved 
to  attempt  to  penetrate  to  the  eastern  Moubuttoo  country, 
although  for  this  purpose  we  should  be  obliged  to  recross  the 
Keebaly.     Nembey  was  tributary  to  Degberra,  the  king  of 
the   eastern   Monbuttoo,    and    it    had    been    necessary  for 
IMohammed  thus  to  proceed  in  the  first  place  to  his  village ; 
the  fact  being  that  the  enmity  between  Munza  and  Degberra 
was  so  bitter  that  there  was  no  possibility  of  passing  directly 
from  the  territory  of  one  to  that  of  the  other.     We  started 
accordingly,  and  the  whole  train  having  crossed  the  brook 
Kussumbo,  we  turned  to  the  south-east  along  an  open  steppe, 
and  proceeded  for  about  half  a  league  until  we  reached  a 
deep  hollow  from  which   there  issued  one  of   the  smaller 
tributaries  of  the  Kussumbo,     This  hollow  was  formed  by 
one  of  the  landslips  so  common  in  this  part  of  Africa,  caused 
by  the  gradual  washing  away  from  below  of  the  ferruginous 
swamp-ore,  which  was  here  at  least  50  feet  thick.  The  depth 
of  the  defile  itself  was  about  80  feet ;  its  sides  were  enveloped 


THE  KAHPILY.  155 

in  dense  bushes,  and  the  masses  of  rock  which  were  quite 
homogeneous  were  adorned  with  a  covering  of  hitherto  un- 
known fern  of  the  genus  adiantum,  which,  in  spots  like  this, 
clothes  the  reeking  stones  with  a  complete  down  of  feathery- 
fronds. 

Another  half  league  across  the  steppe  and  I  was  surprised 
to  find  that  we  were  on  the  banks  of  a  copious  river  that 
about  eight  miles  to  the  south-west  joined  the  Keebaly.  As- 
tonished at  the  sight  of  the  rushing  waters  I  turned  to  my 
Monbuttoo  guide,  and,  availing  myself  of  the  few  words  in  his 
dialect  with  which  I  was  familiar,  I  asked  him  "^a  eggu 
rukodassi  ?  "  (What  do  you  call  that  river  ?)  From  his  reply 
I  discovered  that  it  was  the  Kahpily,  not  the  Keebaly.  The 
similar  sound  of  the  names  of  these  two  collateral  streams 
warned  me  afresh  how  carefully  the  traveller  should  render 
the  names  of  rivers  which  he  hears ;  time  passes  on  and  the 
names  of  places  are  changed  with  their  chiefs,  but  the  names 
of  their  rivers  are  handed  on  by  the  Africans  from  genera- 
tion to  generation  as  long  as  their  language  and  nationality 
remain  unaltered  ;*  only  where  these  change  do  the  names 
of  the  rivers  fall  into  oblivion.  The  Kahpily  has  a  rapid 
current  from  north-east  to  south-west;  its  depth  here  was 
only  4  feet,  but  its  bed,  40  feet  in  width,  and  its  steep  rocky 
walls,  40  feet  in  height,  demonstrated  that  this  important 
stream  must  be  subject  to  a  considerable  increase  in  its 
volume.  In  my  own  mind  I  was  convinced  that  all  these 
rivers,  meeting  within  so  limited  an  area,  must  have  their 
sources  in  some  mountain  region  at  no  great  distance,  little 


*  It  may  be  objected  that  this  theory  does  not  hold  good  for  many  parts  of 
Central  Africa.  Barth  (vol.  iii.,  p.  266)  gives  twelve  instances  to  prove  that 
all  the  tribes  of  the  Central  Soudan  have  no  other  distinctions  for  any  of  their 
streams  beyond  the  general  terms  of  "  water  "  or  river.  But  I  must  be  per- 
mitted to  urge  that  the  Arabs  of  the  Eastern  Soudan  have  their  Atbara, 
Sobat,  &c.  At  any  rate,  the  people  amongst  whom  I  travelled,  especially  tlio 
Niam-niam  and  the  Monbuttoo,  formed  remarkable  exceptions,  for  they  in 
variably  gave  all  localities  the  names  of  the  adjacent  rivers  or  brooks. 


150  THE  HEART  OF  AFRICA. 

as  the  aspect  of  tlie  surrounding  country  seemed  to  warrant 
the  supposition.  It  was  evident  to  my  mind  that  the  Kah- 
pily  must  rise  near  the  source-streams  of  the  Dyoor,  and 
from  a  mountain-chain  extending  to  the  south-east  from 
Baginze,  a  district  which  would  appear  to  be  the  nucleus 
of  a  whole  series  of  source-streams  that  flow  thence  to  the 
north  and  west, 

AVhile  the  caravan  was  being  carefully  conducted  across 
the  river  by  means  of  an  immeuse  stem  of  a  tree  that 
stretched  over  from  bank  to  bank,  I  enjoyed  a  refi*eshing 
bath  in  the  foaming  waters.  Proceeding  next  in  the  direc- 
tion of  E.S.E.,  we  passed  over  a  level  steppe.  As  we 
approached  the  river  that  next  intercepted  us  we  found  that 
we  were  on  the  recent  track  of  a  lion ;  the  vestiges  in  the 
red  clay  were  all  so  well-defined  that  the  natives,  with  their 
keen  hunting  instinct,  pronounced  without  hesitation  that 
they  had  been  made  by  an  aged  male.  The  steppes  extend 
for  a  long  distance  along  the  right  bank  of  the  Keebaly 
without  being  relieved  by  human  habitations,  and  the  dis- 
trict naturally  abounds  with  game.  Herds  of  leucotis  ante- 
lopes animated  the  plain  and  tempted  me  to  devote  an 
hour  to  the  chase.  Drenched  with  perspiration,  almost  as  if 
I  were  in  the  tumult  of  a  battle,  and  aimlessly  following  the 
impulse  of  the  moment,  I  pushed  my  way  through  the  tall 
savannah-grass.  Hunting  in  Africa  may  be  fairly  described 
to  be  one  continual  whirl  and  scramble ;  the  very  abundance 
of  game  confuses  the  vision ;  one  object  of  attraction  rises 
rapidly  after  another,  and  baffles  any  attempt  at  deliberation. 
After  considerable  perseverance  I  succeeded  in  bringing 
down  a  buck  antelope,  much  to  the  astonishment  of  the 
natives,  who  were  watching  my  movements  from  the  road, 
and  persisted  to  the  last  in  questioning  the  efficiency  of  my 
firearms.  I  hit  a  second  antelope,  but  did  not  kill  it.  It 
was  pursued  by  the  natives  for  many  miles,  and  only  just 
before  sunset  did  they  succeed  in  surrounding  it  so  that  they 


THE  TRUMPET-TREE.  157 

could  despatch  it  by  means  of  their  lances.  In  the  middle 
of  the  night  I  was  called  up,  and  naturally  supposed  that 
something  serious  had  transpired,  but  I  soon  discovered  that 
the  reason  why  my  rest  had  been  disturbed  was  merely 
that  I  might  be  shown  the  mark  of  my  bullet  in  the  animal's 
thigh.  The  men  insisted  upon  my  feeling  the  depth  of  the 
wound  with  my  finger,  and  seemed  unable  to  comprehend 
that  they  were  showing  me  nothing  that  was  new. 

A  little  rivulet,  called  the  Kambeley,  wound  down  a  hollow 
incline  of  which  the  sides  were  indented  with  many  a  vale  of 
diflfereot  level.  The  sides  of  tlie  hollow  were  covered  for  a 
considerable  height  with  a  tangled  jungle  from  which  the 
great  leaves  of  the  trumpet-tree  (Cecropia)  rose  like  brilliant 
fans ;  and  interwoven  amongst  its  thickets  there  was  a  new 
species  of  palm,  something  akin  to  the  rotang,  of  which  every 
leaf  terminated  in  a  long  spray,  armed  with  prickles,  like  a 
pike-hook.  From  this  palm  the  Monbuttoo  cut  canes  as 
thick  as  their  arms,  which  are  reputed  to  be  so  difficult  to 
break  that  they  are  not  unfrequently  used  as  a  criterion  in 
testing  strength.  Above  the  primeval  wood  the  narrow 
valley  was  crowned  with  a  number  of  small  and  graceful 
huts.  Altogether  the  spot  was  so  romantic  and  wnld,  and 
yet  withal  it  had  an  air  of  so  much  snug  and  cosy  comfort, 
that  it  seemed  to  entice  one  to  choose  it  for  his  home. 

At  this  point  our  caravan  was  joined  by  a  party  of 
people  sent  by  Kubby,  one  of  Degberra's  sub-chieftains,  from 
beyond  the  Keebaly,  to  open  ivory  transactions  with  BIo- 
hammed,  a  circumstance  that  boded  us  no  good,  and  forbade 
us  from  being  in  any  way  sanguine  of  a  liospitable  reception 
from  Kubby.  This  half-way  meeting  was  only  a  blind  ;  it 
was  a  pretext  to  prevent  us  from  alleging  that  his  subsequent 
refusal  to  allow  us  to  cross  the  river  was  actuated  by  any 
hostile  motive.  An  African  chief  always  likes  to  have  a 
loophole  as  long  as  it  is  doubtful  whether  peace  is  preferable 
to  war. 


158  THE  HEART  OF  AFRICA. 

The  o-round,  with  its  continual  indentations,  slanted  gradually 
downwards  as  we  approached  the  great  river.  Several 
ravines  and  clefts  with  their  flowing  source-springs  had  to 
be  traversed  before  we  reached  the  river  bank,  and  even 
then,  with  the  roar  of  the  cataract  close  beside  us,  we  were 
obliged  to  trace  and  retrace  our  steps  up  and  down  the  shore 
before  we  could  find  a  suitable  place  for  an  encampment. 

At  this  date  (April  18th)  the  Keebaly  filled  a  bed  more 
than  1200  feet  in  width.  The  main  current  followed  the 
left  or  southern  shore,  along  which  a  great  bank  of  gneiss 
lay  exposed,  now  stretched  out  in  wide  flats,  and  now  piled 
up  in  countless  fragments  like  huge  lumps  of  ice.  The 
extreme  height  of  this  bank  never  exceeded  fifty  feet,  while 
the  northern  bank,  on  which  we  had  our  station,  was  covered 
with  the  most  splendid  forest  and  rose  to  a  height  of  at 
least  a  hundred  feet.  Higher  up,  the  stream  was  parted  into 
numerous  channels,  and  amidst  these  was  a  profusion  of 
woody  islands,  against  which  the  foaming  waters  broke, 
throwing  the  sparkle  of  their  spray  into  the  darkness  of  the 
thicket.*  The  channels  appeared  to  be  all  quite  navigable, 
although  the  sound  of  the  rapids  could  be  distinctly  heard. 
"  Kissingah  "  is  the  general  name  by  which  these  rapids  are 
distinguished ;  but  the  Monbuttoo  are  accustomed  simply  to 
refer  to  them  as  "  the  islands."  We  could  observe  the 
conical  roofs  of  the  fishing-huts  peeping  out  from  amidst  the 
foliage,  and  noticed  the  canoes  of  the  unfriendly  natives 
darting  rapidly  across  from  one  islet  to  another.  Not  one, 
however,  of  these  fishing-boats  came  near  us ;  nor  was  there 
the  least  indication  of  the  coming  of  any  of  Kubby's  mes- 
sengers to  assist  us  in  our  passage  across  the  stream.  We 
became  aware  only  too  soon  of  a  resolution  to  obstruct  our 
progress,  the  cause  of, which  was  readily  to  be  explained. 


*  The  accompanying  drawing,  taken  on  tlie  spot,  will  convey  a  conect  idea 
of  the  scene. 


THE  KEEBALY.  •  159 

Poncet's  (subsequently  Ghattas's)  company  had  a  Seriba  in 
Kubby's  district,  and  the  Nubians  who  had  been  left  in 
charge  had  succeeded  in  inducing  the  chief  to  refuse  us  the 
assistance  of  his  boats,  for  no  other  reason  whatever  than 
that  they  feared  Mohammed's  competition  with  themselves, 
and  that  they  were  eager  to  monopolize  the  entire  ivory- 
trade  of  the  district. 

For  the  next  day  we  waited  on.  No  boats  arrived.  This 
waste  of  time  suited  the  plans  neither  of  Mohammed  nor  of 
fnyself.  Our  provisions,  moreover,  were  getting  low.  There 
was  no  prospect  of  revictualling.  Accordingly  our  resolution 
was  taken :  without  delay  we  would  return  to  Nembey. 

During  the  day  of  indecision,  I  exerted  myself  as  best  I 
could  to  explore  the  wildernesses  of  the  Keebaly.  My 
attention  was  chiefly  attracted  by  a  fragrant  erinum,  in  shape 
and  size  resembling  a  white  lily.  The  diversity  of  the  trees 
seemed  almost  endless,  and  I  was  especially  amazed  at  the 
variety  of  the  anonaceae  and  fig-trees,  of  which  I  found  little 
short  of  forty  species. 

An  infallible  proof  of  the  size  and  copiousness  of  the  river 
was  afforded  by  the  number  of  hippopotamuses  that  were 
floundering  about.  I  amused  myself  by  clambering  along 
the  smooth  rocks  that  projected  into  the  water,  and  testing 
my  bullets  on  the  hides  of  the  unwieldy  brutes  ;  having  an 
ample  store  of  ammunition,  for  which  there  did  not  seem  to 
be  much  demand  in  the  way  of  regular  hunting,  I  fired  away 
over  the  surface  of  the  water,  for  the  hour  together.  My 
sport  created  a  vivid  sensation  amongst  the  natives  upon  the 
opposite  bank,  for  although  they  had  the  prudence  to  keep 
carefully  out  of  sight,  they  could  not  resist  surreptitiously 
spying  at  our  camp  from  behind  their  bushes ;  they  mani- 
fested their  surprise  at  the  enormous  range  covered  by  my 
rifles,  being  acquainted  only  with  the  guns  of  the  Nubians, 
the  best  of  which  could  not  carry  half  the  distance. 

The  waters  of  the  Keebaly  have  the  repute  of  affording  a 


160  THE  HEART  OF  AFIUCA. 

home  to  a  very  remarkable  animal  tbat  has  never  been 
observed  in  any  of  the  streams  that  rise  from  the  Nile  basin. 
The  Nubians,  who  have  a  habit  of  calling  anything  with 
which  they  are  not  familiar  by  whatever  name  may  come 
uppermost  at  the  moment,  have  given  this  animal  the  desig- 
nation of  a  "  Kharoof-el-bahr,"  or  river-sheep;  they  describe 
it  in  such  a  way  that  there  can  be  little  doubt  that  it  is  a 
manatus  or  lamantin  (probably  M.  Vogellii),  which  is  so 
frequently  found  in  the  rivers  of  Western  Africa  that  flow 
into  the  Atlantic.  My  short  and  unsettled  sojourn  on  the 
Keebaly  prohibited  me  from  securing,  out  of  these  tropical 
source-streams,  a  specimen  of  this  strange  representative  of 
the  Sirenia  family. 

I  am  perfectly  certain  that  if  Mohammed  had  pleased  he 
could  have  forced  his  way  across  the  river.  The  dexterous 
Nubians  had  but  to  swim  over  with  their  guns  upon  their 
heads,  and  they  could  readily  have  taken  possession  of  the 
canoes  which,  too  large  and  cumbrous  to  be  transported  by 
land,  were  concealed  in  the  thickets  upon  the  opposite  shore. 
I  merely  mention  this  to  illustrate  my  opinion  that,  with  a 
company  of  Nubians,  the  great  African  rivers  in  themselves 
offer  no  insuperable  obstacles  to  a  resolute  traveller. 

As  already  affirmed,  the  Keebaly  is  to  be  considered  as 
the  main  stream  of  the  river  that,  in  its  lower  course,  is 
known  as  the  Welle.  Before  quitting  it  we  may  do  well  to 
give  our  brief  attention  to  the  geographical  questions  that 
are  associated  with  this  discovery. 

In  the  accounts  collected  from  his  agents,  and  published 
by  Poucet,  the  river  is  called  the  Boora  or  Baboora  ;*  but  as 
I  never  heard  this  name,  I  can  only  surmise  that  Poncet's 
informants  had  somehow  misunderstood  or  misinterpreted  the 
regular  name   Keebaly  or   Keebary.     In  the   same  way  I 


*  In  many  Central  African  dialects,  suck  as  the  Baghirmy  and  Bongo,  the 
monosylluble  "  ba  "  means  "  river." 


THE  KEEBALY.  161 

never  heard  anything  of  a  king  mentioned  under  the  name 
of  Kagooma,  or  of  a  tribe  called  the  Onguroo.  The  Nubians 
seem  never  to  recollect  the  native  names  of  rivers,  and 
invariably  pronounce  all  names  whatever  most  incorrectly ; 
the  information  derived  from  that  quarter  is  of  little  value 
to  the  geographer,  and  it  is  very  much  to  be  regretted  that 
the  most  travelled  and  experienced  leaders  of  the  Khartoom 
expeditions  should  have  failed  so  much  in  acquiring  definite 
details ;  had  it  been  otherwise,  their  knowledge  would  have 
been  of  great  assistance  in  laying  down  more  complete  and 
accurate  maps  of  the  country. 

The  probability  that  the  Keebaly  and  tlie  Welle  are 
identical  with  the  upper  course  of  the  Shary  appears  to 
become  at  once  almost  a  positive  certainty  when  we  ask  the 
counter-question,  "  If  this  is  not  the  Shary,  whence  does  the 
Shary  come?"  All  that  we  know  and  all  that  we  do  not 
know  about  the  north  and  north-western  districts  conspire  to 
satisfy  us  that  in  that  direction  there  is  neither  a  sufficient 
reservoir,  nor  an  adequate  space,  for  the  development  of  a 
network  of  streams  large  enough  to  form  a  river  which  is 
half  a  mile  broad  at  its  mouth,  and  which  fills  a  lake  as 
large  as  the  whole  of  Belgium.  The  waters  of  the  Welle, 
however,  do  not  rise  till  April,  while  the  Shary  occasionally 
rises  in  March.  In  order  to  explain  this  earlier  rising  of 
the  lower  river,  we  seem  to  be  compelled  to  adopt  the 
supposition  that  there  must  be  some  second  main  stream 
which  issues  from  a  latitude  more  southerly  than  the  Kee- 
baly. Quite  insignificant  are  the  two  affluents,  the  Nalobey 
and  the  Nomayo,  which  the  river  receives  on  the  left  from 
the  south  of  Munza's  territory. 

There  can  be  little  doubt  about  the  real  origin  of  the 
Keebaly.  Although,  as  delineated  on  my  map,  the  river 
has  a  position  as  though  it  issued  directly  from  the  north- 
west angle' of  the  Mwootan  Lake  (Albert  Nyanza),  nothing 
was  more  remote  from  my  intention  than  to  jump  to  such  a 


162  THE  HEART  OF  AFRICA. 

precipitate  conclusion ;  there  was  nothing  either  in  the 
nature  of  the  river  and  its  tributaries,  or  in  the  information 
I'eceived  from  the  various  natives,  whicli  could,  in  any  way, 
justify  such  a  hypothesis.  On  the  contrary,  I  am  quite  con- 
vinced of  the  correctness  of  Baker's  statement.  I  entirely 
(ioncur  with  his  view  that  Lake  Mwootan  is  the  great  basin 
of  the  Nile,  and  that  the  Bahr-el-Gebel  is  its  only  outlet. 
That  Lake  Mwootan,  simply  on  account  of  its  abundance  of 
water,  must  necessarily  have  several  outlets,  and  that  the  Ayi 
(the  river  which  Baker  calls  the  Ye)  is  one  of  those  outlets, 
is  only  a  geographical  chimera  which,  in  the  Old  World 
at  least,  has  no  analogy,  and  which  would  only  be  admitted 
to  the  theories  of  dilettanti.  According  to  Baker's  measure- 
ment Lake  Mwootan  (Albert  Nyanza)  is  2720  feet  above  the 
level  of  the  sea.  But  by  comparing  the  rapids  of  the  Keebaly 
with  the  height  of  Munza's  residence  (2707  feet),  which  has 
been  verified  by  the  most  rigid  scientific  appliances,  I  have 
ascertained  that  they  are  almost  on  the  same  level  as  the 
lake.  The  river  and  the  lake  being  thus  at  the  same  altitude 
constitutes-  decisive  evidence  that  the  Keebaly  does  not 
issue  from  the  lake,  from  which  it  is  distant  about  170 
miles. 

All  the  rivers  that  were  embraced  within  the  compass  of 
my  journey  appeared  to  me  to  have  their  source  in  the  spur 
of  the  Galla- Abyssinian  highlands,  through  which  the  Bahr- 
el-Gebel  passes  in  the  Madi  country.  Those  which  belong  to 
the  Nile  system  would  seem  to  spring  from  the  mountains  of 
Koshi  on  the  north  of  Lake  Mwootan,  whilst  those  which  are 
tributary  to  the  Shary  have  their  source  in  what  Baker 
designates  the  Blue  Mountains,  which  he  observed  to  the 
north-west  of  the  lake.  Including  the  Mfumbiro  group  on 
the  north  of  Lake  Tanganyika — that  group  which  under 
Speke's  name  of  "  the  Mountains  of  the  Moon,"  has  obtained 
a  certain  geographical  notoriety — this  mountain  system 
apparently  forms  a  section  of  that  conspicuous  terrace-chain 


THE  KEEBALY.  163 

which  (with  the  only  exceptions  of  the  Niger  source-territory 
and  the  lofty  isolated  coast  ranges  by  the  equator)  divides 
the  continent  of  Africa,  not  according  to  the  prevailing  idea 
into  a  northern  and  southern,  but  into  an  eastward  and  west- 
ward half  of  highland  and  lowland.  The  highland  embraces 
a  large  number  of  inland  lakes,  some  of  which  allow  their 
waters  to  escape  most  diffusely,  whilst  others  appear  to  have 
no  outlet  at  all.  Many  of  these  lakes  are  found  close  to  the 
western  ridge  of  the  high  ground.  Besides  the  Keebaly, 
the  Lualaba  amongst  other  rivers  may  be  named  as  forcing 
its  way  through  the  mountains  of  Eua,  and  apparently  flow- 
ing in  a  westerly  direction  towards  the  lowland.  If  we 
imagine  a  prolonged  line  to  cut  the  entire  continent  from 
Massowa  to  Mossamedes,  it  would  coincide  almost  pre- 
cisely with  the  terrace-chain  of  which  I  have  spoken ;  it 
would  answer  very  much  to  a  corresponding  line  of  division 
between  the  highlands  and  lowlands  of  South  America  which, 
like  an  Africa  turned  right  over,  has  its  coast-chain  on  the 
western  side. 

Nurtured  as  I  had  been  upon  the  banks  of  the  Diina,  my 
earliest  memories  were  associated  with  the  aspect  of  a  majestic 
river  with  its  foaming  waves,  and  it  was  consequently  with  no 
ordinary  pleasure  that  I  gazed  upon  this  stream  which 
hitherto  no  white  man  had  ever  beheld.  I  retain  the  most 
vivid  recollection  of  the  last  evening  that  I  spent  upon  the 
banks  of  the  Keebaly,  when  both  time  and  place  contributed 
to  provoke  a  geographical  discussion.  The  Nubians  are 
always  ready  to  talk  about  rivers.  They  will  enlarge  freely 
upon  their  source,  their  aspect,  and  their  connection ;  but, 
carried  away  by  their  imagination,  they  never  fail  to  repre- 
sent their  own  incomparable  Nile  as  par  excellence  the  river 
of  rivers,  the  very  spring  and  reservoir  of  all  the  goodliest 
waters  of  the  earth.  A  compendium  of  all  their  geographical 
delusions  would  form  an  interesting  study,  and  might  furnish 
a  key  to  many  antiquated  traditions.     It  is  well  known  that 


164  THE  HEART  OF  AFRICA. 

the  Nubians  and  Arabians  always  give  the  narae  of  "island  " 
to  the  projecting  point  of  land  which  lies  at  the  confluence 
of  any  two  rivers ;  thus  Sennaar  would  be  described  as  the 
"  island  "  between  the  White  and  the  Blue  Nile  ;  and  it  was 
in  the  same  sense  that  the  ancients  applied  the  name  to 
Meroe,  the  land  between  the  Nile  and  the  Atbara.  It  is 
a  matter  of  remark  again  that  the  Nubians  are  accustomed 
to  invert,  as  it  were,  the  upward  and  downward  courses  of  a 
stream,  and  to  describe  the  confluence  of  two  rivers  as  the 
separation  of  the  main  stream  into  two  branches.  This 
habit  may  possibly  •  account  for  the  frequent  mention  of 
"arms"  in  all  their  descriptions  of  their  rivers:  it  is  in 
accordance  moreover  with  the  practice  of  the  ancients,  who 
referred  to  the  junction  of  the  White  and  Blue  Nile  at 
Khartoom  as  a  partition  of  the  entire  stream,  "uhi  Nilus 
iterum  hifurcus  ;  "  a  notion  probably  only  derived  from  the 
habitual  expressions  of  the  natives  which  would  thus  appear 
to  have  remained  unaltered  for  many  centuries. 

A  corresponding  difference  between  the  Nubian  mode  of 
expression  and  our  own  is  observable  in  all  their  allusions 
to  the  motions  of  rivers,  and  they  would  speak,  for  example, 
of  the  Nile  as  going  towards,  and  not  as  descending  from  the 
mountains.  On  the  bank  of  the  Keebaly  I  sat  discussing 
the  topic  of  river-systems  with  Mohammed  Aboo  Sammat 
and  his  people ;  but  as  we  argued  over  the  many  hydro- 
graphical  problems  that  were  yet  unsolved  I  detected  him 
in  the  most  flagrant  contradictions.  At  length,  losing  my 
patience,  I  desired  him  to  show  me  with  his  hand  which  way 
he  supposed  the  Keebaly  to  flow ;  the  whole  party  simul- 
taneously motioned  towards  the  east,  and  turning  to  the  west 
declared  that  that  was  the  direction  from  which  the  river 
came.  Startled  from  my  composure,  I  rated  tiiera  soundly 
upon  their  inconsistencies.  "  Why,  you  Mussulmen,"  I  said, 
"twist  and  turn  everything  upside  down.  We  can  compre^ 
hend  you  in  nothing.     What  is  sin  with  us  is  righteousness 


NUBIAN  INCONSISTENCY.  165 

with  you.  The  day  you  call  night.*  In  your  Eamadan,  you 
fast  during  the  daytime  ;  we  do  all  our  fasting  at  night.  Go 
to  a  strange  place  and  you  expect  the  people  to  be  the  first  to 
visit  you.  Go  to  a  feast  and  you  take  the  place  of  the  host, 
and  treat  the  servants  to  their  beer.  Your  bridegrooms,  too, 
you  make  them  pay  for  their  brides  instead  of  taking  them 
with  a  dowry  of  their  own.  You  talk  of  what  is  'pure  and 
impure ; '  but  for  yourselves  you  are  always  dirty.  Your 
names  for  colour  are  contradictions  ;  '  akhdar '  is  green  and 
grey ;  '  azrak '  is  both  blue  and  black.  You  call  your 
drums  trumpets ;  t  and  your  trumpets  drums. J  In  bed  you 
wrap  up  your  heads  and  leave  your  feet  uncovered.  To  tell 
the  truth,  I  could  go  on  and  enumerate  a  hundred  of  your 
vagaries,  and  I  can  only  wonder  that  you  do  not  stand  on 
your  heads  and  eat  with  your  feet."  The  incredible  con- 
fusion in  the  ideas  of  this  people  involves  the  traveller  in 
continual  tedious  explanations.  Speke  §  complains  in  the 
same  way  about  the  geographical  blunders  of  his  retinue. 

We  made  our  way  back  to  Nembey  by  the  same  route  that 
we  had  come.  Before  regaining  the  place  we  very  narrowly 
escaped  coming  into  collision  with  the  inhabitants  of  some 
hamlets  through  which  we  passed.  The  entire  caravan  for 
some  days  past  had  been  placed  upon  reduced  rations,  and 
when  some  of  the  bearers  caught  sight  of  the  manioc  roots 
that  had  been  planted  close  to  the  dwellings,  the  temptation 
of  pulling  them  up  was  too  great  to  be  resisted.  The  women 
were  highly  indignant,  assailed  the  offenders  lustily,  and 
shrieked  at  them  with  the  loudest  imprecations.  The  caravan 
came  to  a  standstill.  As  those  in  the  rear  never  knew  what 
was  happening  in  front,  Mohammed,  attended  by  his  body- 
guard, hurried  up  to  inquire  into  the  cause  of  the  disturb- 
ance.     Having  ascertained  the  circumstances,  he  came  to 


•*  Referring  to  the  Soudan  Arabic  word  "  to-day,"  which  is  literally  "  in  tlie 
night." 

t  Drombeta.  J  Tamboor.  §  Ftrfe 'Speke's  Journal,' p  90. 


166  THE  HEART  OF  AFRICA. 

the  resolution  tliat  it  would  be  his  best  policy  to  make 
an  example  of  the  thieves.  Accordingly  he  gave  his 
instructions,  and  the  delinquents  received  a  sound  thrashing 
with  the  kurbatch,  while  the  injured  women  looked  on  with 
miufrled  satisfaction  and  derision. 

On  arriving  at  Nembey  we  found  our  grass  camp-huts  in 
flames,  the  inhabitants  having  set  fire  to  them  as  a  token  of 
their  sense  of  having  had  enough  of  our  company.  They  had 
evidently  no  wish  for  us  to  tarry  among  them  any  longer. 
Without  halting,  therefore,  we  continued  our  march,  re- 
crossed  the  Kussumbo,  and,  towards  dark,  reached  the  last 
of  the  villages  before  the  frontier  wilderness,  where  I  and 
my  people  found  comfortable  accommodation  in  a  large  shed 
belonging  to  the  local  chief.  We  were  here  informed  that 
Wando  was  bent  upon  our  destruction,  the  entire  population 
of  the  frontier  being  already  in  arms,  and  the  women  and 
children  having  been  removed  to  a  place  of  safety. 

Mohammed  by  this  time  had  been  driven,  however  un- 
willingly, to  the  conclusion  that  he  had  neither  competent 
guides  nor  adequate  provisions  to  enable  him  to  carry  out 
his  original  project  of  avoiding  the  enemy's  territory  by 
taking  a  circuitous  route  to  the  east.  There  was  no  alter- 
native  for  us  except  to  continue  our  old  road  over  the  wil- 
derness that  bounded  the  frontier.  Meanwhile,  repeated 
showers  of  rain  had  fallen,  and  had  contributed  very  much 
to  the  difficulty  of  crossing  the  swamps  by  making  them 
unusually  humid.  So  much  time  was  occupied  in  convey- 
ing the  caravan  across  the  brook  that  bounded  the  Monbuttoo 
district  that  I  had  leisure  to  make  a  sketch  of  the  gallery- 
forest,  which,  however,  very  inadequately  represents  the 
splendour  of  its  luxuriance.* 


•  The  annexed  woodcut  is  too  minute  to  represent  the  details,  but  it  may 
give  some  idea  of  the  plantain-groves  iu  the  obscurity  of  these  forests.  T^Je 
oumbrous  stems  are  thickly  overgrown  with  wild  pepper,  and  the  spreading 
branches  are  loaded  with  long  bead  moss  (Usnea),  and  with  that  remarkable 


Id 


i 


AFRICAN  BEESWAX.  167 

The  sun  was  still  high  when  we  made  our  first  camp  in 
the  wilderness.  We  were  upon  the  third  of  the  gallery- 
brooks.  Since  our  former  visit  new  blossoms  had  unfolded 
themselves,  and  seemed  to  give  a  fresh  aspect  to  the  scene. 
In  every  quarter  of  the  thickets,  gleaming  like  torches,  there 
rose  the  imposing  clusters  of  the  combretum,  with  its  large 
bright-red  bracteae;  and,  as  if  to  rival  them  in  splendour, 
every  branch  of  the  spathodea  put  forth  a  thyrsus  of  large 
orange-coloured  balls. 

In  the  midst  of  my  enjoyment,  as  I  was  admiring  the 
beauties  all  around  me,  I  was  startled  by  a  cry,  like  a  shout 
of  triumph,  that  came  from  a  party  of  our  negroes  who  were 
scouring  the  woods  in  the  hope  of  securing  something  good 
to  eat.  I  hurried  in  the  direction  of  the  sound,  and  found 
the  men  all  clustered  round  the  stem  of  a  tree,  to  which 
they  were  busily  applying  firebrands.  Having  discovered 
a  quantity  of  honey  in  a  hollow  tree,  they  adopted  the  most 
effectual  measures  to  secure  their  treasure,  and  very  soon 
the  honey,  the  "wax,  and  the  very  bodies  of  the  bees  them- 
selves were  indiscriminately  devoured.  If  any  one  could 
persuade  the  inhabitants  of  Centi-al  Africa  .to  desist  from 
their  habit  of  consuming  this  wax,  he  would  do  no  small 
service  towards  accelerating  the  civilization  of  the  continent. 
At  present,  with  the  exception  of  ivory,  no  article  of  traffic 
from  these  districts  repays  its  transport:  but  the  inex- 
haustible supply  of  wax  from  these  districts  might  be  made 
the  object  of  a  productive  trade.  Hitherto  Abyssinia  and 
Benguela  have  been  the  only  countries  that  have  supplied 
any  considerable  quantities  of  this  valuable  product;  yet 
the  demand  for  real  beeswax    in  the   lands  alone  that  are 


lichen  to  which  I  have  given  the  name  of  elephant's  ear:  high  among  the 
houghs  are  the  huge  dwellings  of  the  tree-termes.  Some  stems,  already 
decayed,  serve  as  supports  for  immense  garlands  of  Mucuna,  and,  overhung  by 
impenetrable  foliage,  form  roomy  bowers  where  dull  obscurity  reigns  supreme. 
Such  is  the  home  of  the  chimpanzee. 


168  THE  HEART  OF  AFRICA. 

subject  to  the  orthodox  Greek  Church,  where  it  is  the  only 
material  allowed  for  church  lights,  is  almost  unbounded. 

The  ruins  of  the  grass-huts  beside  the  broad  meadow- 
water  brought  back  to  our  recollection  the  melancholy  night 
of  rain  which  we  had  to  endure  upon  our  outward  journey. 
The  spot  was,  if  possible,  more  miserable  and  dejected  now. 
Neither  leaves  nor  grass  could  be  obtained  in  sufficient 
quantity  for  our  need.  Trees  had  to  be  felled  to  make  a 
path  across  the  swamp,  and  even  then,  go  carefully  as  we 
would,  the  mud  was  much  above  our  knees.  If  the  enemy 
had  been  sagacious  enough  to  attack  us  under  those  adverse 
circumstances,  we  should  have  fallen  an  easy  prey. 

In  another  two  days  we  should  pass  the  enemy's  border. 
The  very  expectation  seemed  to  awaken  our  impatience,  and 
we  started  off  at  early  dawn.  Already  we  could  trace  the 
footprints  of  our  antagonists'  outposts,  who  had  been  seen 
some  distance  along  the  road  to  watch  for  our  approach. 
Towards  noon  we  came  to  the  official  declaration  of  war, 
consisting,  as  I  have  previously  described,  of  the  maize,  the 
feather,  and  the  arrow,  hung  across  our  path,  as  the  emblems 
of  defiance.  There  was  something  of  the  anxiety  of  suspense 
as  we  found  ourselves  at  the  partition  brook  which  marked 
off  Wando's  territory.  Aware  of  the  danger  of  venturing 
rashly  into  the  pathless  thickets,  our  cautious  leader  ordered 
a  general  halt.  Small  detachments  were  first  despatched  to 
reconnoitre  and  to  clear  the  way.  As  soon  as  they  had 
satisfied  themselves  that  all  was  safe,  the  signal  was  given 
by  the  trumpets,  and  the  column  of  bearers  was  set  in 
motion.  The  crowd  of  women  were  not  permitted  to  march 
as  usual  in  single  file,  but  for  the  sake  of  compactness  were 
gathered  in  a  mass  and  strode  on,  trampling  down  whatever 
vegetation  came  in  their  way ;  the  chaos  of  confusion  was 
indescribable  ;  the  shrill  chatter  of  their  voices  mingled 
harshly  with  the  clatter  of  their  pots  and  pans;  while 
above  all  rose  the  bellowing  of  the  orders  and  the  louder 


A  PARLEY.  169 

volley  of  the  oaths  of  the  Nubians,  who  marched  on  with 
their  guns  in  one  hand,  but  making  good  use  of  their  rods 
and  kurbatches  with  the  other. 

Safely  through  the  wood,  we  reached  an  open  steppe.  We 
were  in  sight  of  the  enemy's  position,  and  once  again  a  halt 
was  called.  The  occasional  gleaming  of  a  spear  in  the  grass, 
or  the  waving  of  a  plume  upon  a  Niam-niam's  hat,  made  us' 
aware  that  we  were  not  far  from  the  presence  of  the  foe. 
They  seemed  to  be  in  a  wide  semicircle,  that  embraced  the 
front  of  our  halting-ground.  There  was,  however,  something 
in  their  demeanour  that  appeared  to  indicate  a  desire  on 
their  part  for  a  parley.  The  interpreters  therefore  were  sent 
forward,  the  trumpeter  Inglery  at  their  head ;  Mohammed 
himself  soon  followed,  and  a  conference  ensued.  The  natives 
all  this  time  took  careful  cognizance  of  the  range  of  the 
Khartoomers'  guns,  and  did  not  seem  disposed  to  approacli 
nearer  than  was  requisite  to  understand  what  was  said. 

As  the  parley  proceeded,  and  we  saw  the  parties  approxi- 
mate nearer  to  each  other,  we  began  to  expect  a  favourable 
termination  of  the  interview.  It  turned  out  that  the  men 
with  whom  Mohammed  was  treating  were  representatives  of 
the  districts  adjoining  the  A-Madi,  the  Nabanda  Yuroo.  They 
declared  that  though  they  were  subject  to  Wando  they  had 
really  no  share  in  his  hostile  intentions;  they  were  anxious 
to  guard  themselves  against  the  mischief  that  might  befall 
them  from  their  proximity  to  the  scene  of  war,  and  conse- 
quently were  only  pleading  "  for  their  hearths  and  homes." 
Mohammed  was  inclined  to  listen  to  their  plea,  although  he 
was  reckoning  without  his  host.  Meanwhile  some  of  the 
actual  belligerents  arrived,  and  professed  that  they  could 
o-ive  us  a  safe  conduct  across  the  country,  declaring  that  they 
were  well  aware  where  Wando  had  deposited  Mohammed's 
ivory,  and  upon  these  pretexts  they  urged  Mohammed  to 
accept  them  as  guides. 

I  could  not  resist  making  my  way  up  to  Mohammed  as  he 


170  THE  HEART  OF  AFRICA. 

stood  surrounded  by  his  guard,  and  giving  his  instructions  to 
the  interpreters,  in  order  that  I  might  point  out  to  him  the 
advantage  of  his  position.  I  wanted  him  to  understand  how 
much  better  it  woukl  be  to  secure  all  these  men  as  hostages 
than  to  trust  to  their  promises  and  proposals ;  but  he  made 
light  of  my  apprehensions,  afiSrming  that  savages  were  all 
cowards  and  afraid  of  war,  and  that  he  had  no  doubt  everv- 
thing  would  come  right  at  last. 

Without  further  delay  the  A-Banga  were  then  permitted 
to  escort  us  to  their  villages  on  the  other  side  of  the  brook, 
where,  in  spite  of  the  suspicious  absence  of  all  the  women 
and  children,  we  received  an  abundant  supply  of  provisions, 
and  I  was  presented  with  a  good  store  of  the  flesh  of  some 
eland-antelopes,  which  the  natives  had  killed  on  the  day 
before.  In  reality,  these  people  amply  deserved  a  thorough 
chastisement  at  our  hands  for  the  massacre  of  our  women 
slaves  during  our  outward  journey,  but  Mohammed,  under 
•  the  hope  of  obtaining  a  safe  transit  and  recovering  his  ivory, 
thought  it  more  diplomatic  to  overlook  the  ofi'ence. 

Before  sunrise  next  morning  all  were  in  readiness  to  pro- 
ceed. The  day  proved  to  myself  to  be  one  of  the  few  unlucky 
days  that  marred  the  general  good  fortune  that  attended  my 
enterprise.  A  slight  mishap  befell  me  in  crossing  the  iirst 
brook,  which  was  but  the  precursor  of  a  more  serious  trouble 
to  come.  In  crossing  a  swamp  I  fell  into  a  deep  quagmire, 
from  which  I  scrambled  out  witli  everything  upon  me  except 
my  hat  covered  with  the  blackest  and  filthiest  of  mire. 
With  all  my  might  I  shouted  to  my  servants  to  bring  me 
clean  dry  clothes.  My  outcry  raised  an  alarm  that  spread 
to  the  rear.  There  arose  an  impression  that  I  had  been 
wounded,  and  in  a  short  time  half  the  caravan  had  crowded 
round.  Order  having  been  restored,  we  proceeded  on  our  way. 
deviating,  however,  a  little  from  our  previous  route,  and 
passing  numerous  villages  and  cultivated  spots.  Owing  to 
irregularities  in  the  soil  our  caravan  became  somewhat  broken, 


ABOO  SAMMAT  WOUNDED.  171 

and  it  was  deemed  advisable  to  make  a  halt  near  the  huts  of 
the  next  local  overseer,  for  the  double  purpose  of  gathering 
the  stragglers,  and  of  allowing  an  interval  for  the  morning 
meal. 

Starting  afresh,  Mohammed,  led  the  way.  He  was  himself 
unarmed,  but  he  was  attended  by  his  young  armour-bearers, 
and  followed  by  a  detachment  of  his  black  body-guard. 
Next  in  order  and  close  behind  were  the  men  whose  media- 
tion and  offers  of  guidance  had.  yesterday  been  accepted. 
Somehow  or  other  I  coukl  not  get  rid  of  my  presentiment 
that  these  fellows  were  not  to  be  trusted,  and  accordingly, 
contrary  to  my  custom,  I  took  good  care  to  keep  my  trusty 
rifle  in  my  hand.  It  struck  me  as  very  remarkable  that  in 
the  villages  which  we  passed  the  men,  women,  and  children 
were  all  assembled  in  crowds,  and  calmly  watched  our  pro- 
gress, just  as  though  there  was  no  rumour  or  thought  of  war. 

After  about  half  a  league  I  was  at  the  head  of  a  column 
of  bearers,  but  I  had  fallen  some  hundred  paces  behind 
Mohammed.  All  at  once  several  shots  fired  in  rapid  suc- 
cession made  me  aware  that  something  unusual  had  happened 
in  front.  Looking  to  the  right  I  saw  some  natives  rushing 
away  at  full  speed  across  the  steppes ;  a  hasty  fire  was 
opened  upon  the  fugitives,  and  their  savage  yells  of  pain 
betrayed  that  some  of  them  were  wounded,  although  they 
contrived  to  make  good  their  escape.  Another  moment  and 
I  caught  sight  of  Mohammed  being  carried  back  towards  us 
with  a  broad  streak  of  blood  across  his  white  sash,  and  close 
beside  were  the  two  little  armour-bearers  writhing  with  their 
faces  to  the  ground,  their  backs  pierced  by  the  native  lances. 
It  was  a  ghastly  sight.  Dashing  up  to  jMobaramed  I  ripped 
up  his  clothes,  and  discovered  at  a  glance  that  my  poor 
friend  had  received  a  deep  spear-cut  in  his  thigh. "  I  did  not 
lose  an  instant  in  adopting  what  measures  I  could.  As  fate 
would  have  it,  I  had  a  box  of  insect  needles  in  my  pocket. 
Water,  of  which  we  were  always  careful  to  have  a  supply, 

Vol.  II.— 13. 


17'2  THE  HEART  OF  AFRICA. 

was  close  at  hand.  Mohammed's  own  muslin  scarf  was  jnst 
the  thing  for  a  bandage.  Having  carefully  been  washed,  and 
then  bound  together  with  half-a-dozen  of  the  strongest  of  the 
pins,  and  finally  enveloped  in  the  scarf  and  tied  with  yarn, 
the  gaping  wound  was  completely  dressed,  and  began  to  heal 
almost  as  soon  as  it  was  closed. 

The  sad  event  had  occurred  in  this  way.  One  of  the  pre- 
tended guides  forced  his  way  between  Mohammed  and  his 
young  shield-bearers,  and  brandishing  his  lance  cried  out, 
"  The  people  of  Yuroo  are  for  peace ;  we  are  for  war." 
Mohammed  instinctively  made  a  sidelong  movement  to  escape 
the  falling  blow,  and  thus  probably  saved  his  life.  Mean- 
while the  other  natives  attacked  the  boys  and  stabbed 
them  between  the  shoulders.  Although  Mohammed  had 
escaped  the  direct  blow  that  was  designed,  the  huge  lance, 
with  its  head  a  foot  and  a  half  in  length,  had  sunk  deep  into 
his  flesh.  With  the  fortitude  of  desperation  he  dragged  the 
murderous  weapon  from  the  wound,  hurled  it  after  the  fugi- 
tive assassin,  and  then  fell  senseless  to  the  earth.  The 
injury  caused  by  the  barbs  of  the  spear  (which  were  an 
inch  long)  was  miserably  aggravated  by  the  impetuous  fury 
with  which  the  weapon  was  extracted.  The  wound  was  broad 
and  deep  enough  to  admit  my  whole  hand,  and  had  only  just 
escaped  the  kidney,  which  was  visible  through  the  open 
flesh. 

In  their  first  surprise  at  the  sudden  attack,  Mohammed's 
personal  retinue  had  fired  almost  at  random  after  the  fugitive 
traitors;  but  as  their  guns  were  only  loaded  with  deer-shot, 
they  for  the  most  part  hit  the  enemy  without  killing  them. 
Immediately  updn  this  there  ensued  a  general  chase,  and 
during  the  time  that  I  was  engaged  in  binding  up  Moham- 
med's wound,  I  could  hear  the  reports  of  firearms  along  the 
whole  line  of  our  procession. 

And  now  again  a  halt  was  ordered,  the  columns  of  bearers 
were  collected,  their  loads  were  deposited  in  piles  upon  the 


HOSTILITIES.  173 

fjround.  and  tlie  signal  was  given  for  a  general  plunder.  Joy- 
fully enough  was  the  order  hailed  ;  it  was  especially  welcome 
to  the  hungry  Bongo  after  their  scanty  fare  on  the  previous 
days. 

As  a  proof  that  the  natives  were  in  league  together,  I 
noticed  that  directly  after  the  treacherous  attack  upon 
Mohammed,  all  spectators  disappeared  from  the  road  ;  and 
although  the  Nubians,  considering  themselves  perfectly  jus- 
tified in  taking  what  slaves  they  could,  went  in  pursuit  of 
women  and  children,  I  did  not. see  that  their  exertions  were 
attended  with  any  success.  They  secured  a  number  of  un- 
fortunate boys,  but  they  let  them  loose  again,  persecuting 
them  with  gun-shot  and  lances  as  they  took  to  flight.  The 
air  rung  with  their  shrieks,  and  it  was  only  the  long  grass, 
I  cannot  doubt,  that  prevented  my  seeing  not  a  few  of  these 
undeserving  victims  sink  and  die  upon  the  earth. 

Within  an  hour  not  only  were  the  granaries  of  the  villages 
around  so  effectually  ransacked  that  abundance  of  corn  was 
piled  up  around  our  quarters,  but  the  villages  themselves 
were  involved  in  flames.  With  an  expedition  quite  astonish- 
ing, the  conical  roofs  were  removed  from  the  nearest  huts 
and  employed  in  the  construction  of  an  improvised  camp  for 
ourselves,  which  was  subsequently  surrounded  by  a  substan- 
tial abattis.  The  woodwork  from  the  adjacent  dwellings 
furnished  the  material  for  this  defence,  which  we  presumed 
might  be  necessary  in  case  of  attack. 

Meantime  our  fighting  force  was  adequate  to  keep  the 
natives,  who  had  assembled  to  do  battle  with  us  as  in- 
truders, at  a  safe  distance  from  our  camp,  wheie  our  own 
negroes  were  busily  storing  whatever  they  had  captured. 
While  this  was  going  on  some  of  the  fighting  men  came  in, 
and  approaching  their  chieftain,  who,  wrapped  in  wet 
bandages,  was  reclining  on  a  couch  beneath  a  tree,  laid  at  his 
feet  their  first  trophies  of  war,  consisting  of  several  heads  of 
the  A-B:inga.     It  was  in  the  first  excitement  of  battle  that 


174  THE  HEART  OF  AFRICA. 

these  heads  had  been  taken  off  tlie  bodies  of  the  fallen,  and 
in  revenge  for  the  slaughterous  attack  upon  Mohammed ; 
but  throughout  the  whole  period  of  hostility,  although  some 
twenty  natives  were  killed,  this  was  the  first  and  last  in- 
stance that  came  under  my  notice  of  the  barbarous  custom. 
All  the  negroes  attached  to  our  caravan  had  a  superstitious 
horror  of  the  practice  of  decapitating  the  dead,  and  the 
Nubians  would  have  deemed  themselves  defiled  by  touching 
the  corpse  of  a  heathen.  As  no  value  appeared  in  any 
quarter  to  be  attached  to  the  heads  I  appropriated  them 
to  myself,  and  was  thus  able  to  add  to  the  variety  of  my 
collection  of  skulls. 

The  scene  of  these  adventures  was  witliin  gunshot  of  a 
bank  thicket,  through  the  deep  hollow  of  which  flowed  a 
copious  brook  that  a  little  farther  north  joined  the  Assika. 
On  the  opposite  bank,  which  was  considerably  higher  than 
the  side  on  which  we  were  encamped,  there  were  several 
groups  of  hamlets  scattered  about  the  open  plain,  and  be- 
tween these  numbers  of  armed  men  could  be  distinguished 
hurrying  about,  the  precise  object  of  whose  activity  we  were 
at  a  loss  to  determine.  Amongst  the  Nubians  who  were 
with  us  were  some  of  the  stoutest  and  most  resolute  men  in 
the  whole  of  Aboo  Sammat's  corps,  and  these  had  come  to 
the  resolution  that  they  would  force  their  way  through  the 
natives  who  might  be  hidden  in  the  jungle,  cross  the  brook. 
and  carry  an  attack  over  to  the  opposite  bank.  All  the 
ivory  that  had  been  purchased  on  the  outward  route  and 
deposited  in  the  land  seemed  to  be  in  peril  of  being  lost, 
and  it  Avas  the  conviction  of  the  Nubians  that  their  only 
chance  now  of  recovering  their  property  was  by  capturing 
some  of  the  native  women,  who  would  have  to  be  redeemed. 
Things  seemed  to  promise  favourably  for  the  undertaking. 
The  soil  was  suitable,  the  network  of  brooks  and  trenches 
interspersed  with  grass  plots  opened  certain  facilities  for 
encompassing  an  adversary,  and  if  the  Nubians  had  acted 


ARROWS  OF  THE  A-BANGA.  175 

with  greater  determination  they  could  hardly  have  failed  in 
securing  the  desired  hostages,  but  the  passage  across  the 
woods  on  the  river-banks  was  their  first  difficulty.  They  had 
to  contend  at  a  great  disadvantage,  for  they  could  only 
squander  their  bullets  uselessly  or  at  random  among  the 
trees ;  while  the  natives  from  their  lurking-places  could  do 
good  and  sure  execution  with  their  spears  and  arrows. 

I  accompanied  our  party  of  assailants  for  some  distance, 
and  had  a  better  opportunity  than  had  ever  presented  itsell' 
before  of  observing  the  effect  of  the  native  arrows.  The 
arrows  that  had  wooden  heads  I  observed  to  have  a  range  of 
at  least  300  paces,  and  to  fall  with  scarcely  a  sound ;  such  as 
had  iron  tips  on  the  contrary  came  whizzing  through  the  air, 
but  would  not  carry  half  the  distance ;  these  appeared  only 
to  be  used  when  the  natives  felt  tolerably  sure  of  their 
aim. 

The  A-Banga  have  a  war-dress  and  equipments  that  would 
seem  to  be  entirely  derived  from  the  Monbuttoo  :  they  dance 
and  jump  about  behind  the  bushes  as  if  they  were  taking 
part  in  a  pantomime,  generally  trying  to  keep  a  crouching 
posture,  and  only  rising  to  discharge  their  arrows.  The 
storm  of  arrows  which  they  hurled  against  us  as  we  advanced 
fell  like  strays  from  a  waggon-load  of  straw,  and  yet  our 
enemy  could  not  be  detected  anywhere,  excepting  at  intervals 
a  form  would  be  seen  to  rush  across  as  it  changed  its  place  of 
ambush.  Just  at  the  beginning  of  the  fray  one  of  our  side 
was  struck  by  a  wooden  arrow  in  rather  a  remarkable  way ; 
the  point,  which  was  some  inches  long  and  as  hard  as  iron, 
having  caught  the  inner  corner  of  his  eye,  remained  sticking 
close  to  the  side  of  the  lachrymal  cavity  ;  the  fellow  roared 
out  lustily,  but  he  was  found  to  have  sustained  no  serious 
hurt.  It  Avas  said  that  a  casualty  of  this  kind  was  by  no 
means  unusual,  because  the  natives  always  aimed  at  the  eye 
as  the  most  vulnerable  quarter ;  but  as  the  arrows  are  very 
light,  and  have  to  describe  a  curve  before  thev  can  reach 


176  THE  HEART  OF  AFRICA. 

their  mark,  I  should  presume  their  destination  is  altogether 
a  matter  of  chance. 

On  the  border  of  the  wood,  close  to  the  pathway  as  it 
emerged,  some  of  the  more  courageous  of  the  natives  made  a 
stand  and  received  our  people  with  gestures  of  defiance, 
brandishing  their  weapons,  and  tossing  their  plumed  heads. 
From  the  thickets  beyond,  the  war-cries  of  those  who  weie 
less  venturesome  could  be  distinctly  heard,  and  from  the  dis- 
tance, beyond  again,  resounded  the  clang  of  the  kettledrums. 
One  of  the  savages  sprang  forward  towards  us,  and  holding 
up  his  shield  denounced  us  with  a  volley  of  maddened 
imprecations.  A  bullet  quickly  pierced  alike  his  shield  and 
his  breast,  and  he  sank  mute  and  senseless  to  the  earth.  A 
second  ventured  forward,  but  only  to  succumb  to  the  same 
fate.  Then  the  savages  thought  it  was  time  to  retreat,  and 
accordingly  wheeling  round  they  disappeared  into  the 
obscurity  of  the  wood,  where  the  rustle  of  the  foliage  gave 
witness  to  a  general  flight.  Now  was  the  opportunity  to 
cross,  of  which  the  Nubians  took  advantage,  but  though  they 
reached  the  farmsteads  without  opposition  they  could  only 
fire  into  the  air  without  an  aim,  as  though  they  were  greeting 
the  new  moon  after  the  fast  of  Ramadan. 

For  myself  curiosity  alone  had  led  me  on.  I  had  no  war- 
like ardour,  I  had  no  feeling  of  vengeance  against  the 
natives,  and  consequently  I  took  no  personal  share  in  this 
mild  skirmish,  but  those  who  were  present  delighted  after- 
wards in  telling  wonderful  stories  of  the  daring  prowess  I  had 
displayed  in  penetrating  the  enemy's  ranks.  Such  reports 
often  follow  a  traveller's  reputation  for  years,  and  whoever 
repeats  them  is  pretty  sure  to  append  some  marvel  of  his  own 
fancy.  ''When  fame  paints  a  serpent,  she  attaches  feet  to  its 
body." 

The  savages  had  no  idea  of  the  velocity  of  a  bullet ;  they 
invariably  ducked  their  heads  as  often  as  they  could  hear  a 
ball  whistling  in  the  air  ;  and  it  was  a  very  ludicrous  spec- 


178  THE  HEAKT  OF  AFRICA. 

» 

Mohammed  was  at  once  to  be  recognised  by  his  Monbuttoo 
straw  hat,  with  its  briglit-red  feathers.  Although  all  his 
compatriots  would  have  considered  it  a  degradation  to  adopt 
a  savage  costume,  he  always  delighted,  in  these  expeditions, 
to  dress  himself  like  a  native  chieftain.  In  order  to  give 
the  natives  a  still  further  demonstration  of  his  safety,  in  the 
course  of  the  afternoon  he  made  his  nephew  array  himself 
in  his  own  state  attire,  his  flowing  rokko-coat,  and  his  stately 
plumes,  and  sent  him  to  conduct  a  sally  towards  the  north. 
This  party,  however,  returned  without  coming  to  any  en- 
<2;ao;ement. 

I  spent  the  whole  day  in  my  own  tent  preparing  the 
ammunition  which  I  supposed  would  be  requisite  for  my 
people  if  the  state  of  warfare  should  last.  Deer-shot,  with 
some  of  a  heavier  description,  I  considered  would  be  of 
the  greatest  service  in  the  hands  of  unskilful  marksmen.  I 
had  another  occupation,  which  made  me  feel  like  a  very 
Nemesis.  I  manipulated  the  heads  of  the  A-Banga  men 
which  I  had  so  recently  appropriated.  Probably  with  their 
own  eyes  these  heads  had  watched  the  stewing  of  other 
human  heads,  but  now  they  had  to  simmer  on  in  my  caldron. 
Although  I  was  quite  aware  that  the  Nubians  reckoned  the 
bones  of  all  heathens  and  unbelievers  as  entitled  to  no  more 
respect  than  the  bones  of  brute  beasts,  yet  for  decency's  sake 
I  preferred  performing  the  operation  in  the  seclusion  of  my 
tent.  Notwithstanding  that  my  dogs  had  not  had  any 
animal  food  for  several  days,  they  could  not  be  induced  to 
eat  a  morsel  of  the  boiled  human  flesh. 

Just  as  it  was  growing  dark  we  were  startled,  if  not 
alarmed,  by  the  appearance  of  a  great  troop  of  natives.  The 
attack  was  not  made,  as  hitherto,  from  the  dense  dark  woods 
at  our  feet,  but  proceeded  from  our  old  path  upon  the  south. 
Only  the  foremost  ranks  were  visible,  tlie  rear  being  hidden 
by  the  high  grass  and  bushes ;  but  the  wild  cries,  like  the 
howling  of  a  coming  storm,  testified  to  the  overwhelming 


PURSUING  THE  FUGITIVES.  179 

numbei's  of  the  aggressors.  Half  of  our  armed  force  issued 
from  the  camp  in  a  compact  line,  and  fired  a  volley  straight 
upon  the  nearest  of  the  assailants,  five  of  whom  were  seen  to 
fall  dead  upon  the  ground.  The  altered  tone  of  the  war-cry 
proved  that  many  more  were  wounded,  and  as  all  the  guns 
were  loaded  with  a  good  handful  of  heavy  shot  this  was  sure 
to  be  the  case ;  but  this  time  the  conflict  came  to  such  close 
quarters  that  two  more  of  our  men  were  severely  wounded 
by  the  native  lances.  As  soon  as  the  attack  was  thus  diverted, 
and  the  front  ranks  of  the  enemy  began  to  retreat,  the 
negroes  of  our  caravan,  who  had  been  placed  in  reserve 
immediately  behind  the  soldiers,  started  off  at  full  speed  in 
pursuit  of  the  fugitives,  and  their  lances  made  far  greater 
havoc  than  all  the^  bullets  of  the  Nubians.  Before  leaving 
Munza's  residence  our  bearers  had  all  been  provided  with 
new  weapons,  and  thus  our  little  negio  band  was  able  to 
hold  its  own  against  greatly  preponderating  numbers  of  the 
enemy,  who,  I  should  imagine,  were  at  least  10,000  strong. 

The  weight  and  diversity  of  the  weapons  of  the  A-Banga, 
added  to  the  inconvenience  of  their  costume,  necessarily 
prevented  them  from  making  a  rapid  flight ;  they  were  con- 
sequently obliged  to  keep  throwing  off  one  impediment  after 
another  until  the  ground  was  strewn  with  shields,  lances, 
clothes,  and  sometimes  with  their  false  chignons,  ornaments 
and  all.  When  the  negroes  returned  to  camp,  bringing  in 
their  spoil  and  swinging  the  chignons  on  the  points  of  their 
lances,  they  were  greeted  alike  with  the  glad  shout  of 
triumph  and  the  loud  ring  of  laughter. 

It  was  near  midnight  when  the  pursuers  came  back. 
They  had  prosecuted  their  chase  to  the  frontier  wilderness  ; 
they  had  found  the  villages  all  deserted  by  their  inhabitants, 
and  had  obtained  such  stores  of  plunder  that  enough  was 
accumulated  to  keep  our  whole  caravan  for  a  month. 

This  had  been  the  most  energetic  attack  that  the  eneniv 
had  yet  attempted ;  it  was  made  exclusively  by  the  A-Bano-a, 


180  THE  HEART  OF  AFRICA. 

DO  Niam-niam  having  as  yet  appeared  upon  the  scene.  The 
arrival  of  Wando,  with  all  his  force,  was  expected  the 
next  day. 

Early,  therefore,  on  the  following  morning  half  of  our 
little  armament  was  sent  forward  to  the  north,  not  merely 
to  anticipate  any  movement  on  Wando's  part,  but,  if  possible, 
to  accomplish  the  object  of  obtaining  some  women  as  hos- 
tages, who  might  be  exchanged  ibr  the  still  undiscovered 
ivory.  Mohammed  was  annoyed  at  the  previous  failures  to 
secure  any  women,  knowing  by  experience  that  hardly  any 
ransom  is  accounted  too  large  by  the  Niam-niam  for  the 
recovery  of  their  wives. 

About  two  hours  after  the  departure  of  our  soldiers  a 
singular  sight  arrested  our  attention.  Marching  along  in 
single  file  upon  the  top  of  the  opposite  slope,  which  was 
separated  from  our  camp  by  the  woody  depression  and  the 
brook,  we  saw  a  lengthened  train  of  armed  natives,  who  by 
their  large  quadrangular  shields  gleaming  in  the  sun  could 
be  at  once  recognised  as  A-Banga.  The  procession  seemed 
unending ;  it  occupied  fully  three  hours  in  passing,  and  at 
the  lowest  computation  must  have  consisted  of  10,000  or 
12,000  men.  It  was  at  first  the  general  impression  that  the 
chieftain  had  arrived  with  the  main  body  of  his  troops.  It 
was  conjectured  that  he  intended  to  make  a  circuit  to  the 
west,  and,  having  crossed  the  brook,  to  attack  us  at  nightfall 
from  the  same  quarter  as  our  assailants  of  the  previous  day. 
But  our  fears  were  not  realised,  and  we  remained  utterly 
unable  to  reconcile  the  manoeuvres  we  had  witnessed  with 
the  absence  of  Watido,  which  was  still  a  mystery  to  us,  as  he 
might  have  been  joined  by  all  his  allies  in  the  course  of  a 
single  day.  Everything,  however,  was  made  clear  to  us 
when  our  soldiers  returned  at  night  from  their  plundering 
expeditions.  They  told  us  that  on  arriving  in  the  morning 
at  the  liamlets  they  had  found  the  fighting  force  of  the 
A-Banga  all  drawn  up,  evidently  waiting  in  anxious  suspense 


WANDO'S  RET  HEAT.  181 

for  the  assistance  of  Wando,  but  that  on  their  approacli  this 
large  body  of  men  immediately  vacated  their  post.  Thus 
the  long  train  that  had  caused  us  so  much  bewilderment 
was  simply  the  10,000  natives  retreating  at  the  advance  of  a 
detachment  of  forty  or  fifty  of  our  soldiers. 

Upon  the  gradual  slope  on  which  our  camp-enclosure  was 
situated,  the  white  ant-hills,  that  often  rise  to  an  altitude 
of  ten  feet,  were  the  only  eminences  whence  any  extended 
view  could  be  obtained  across  the  long  grass  of  the  steppe. 
These  were  nearly  always  occupied  by  the  natives,  who 
mounted  them  for  the  purpose  of  getting  a  better  vantage- 
ground  for  shouting  their  menaces  and  invective  insults, 
but  occasionally  they  answered  another  end :  they  ser\  ed  to 
allow  the  outposts  of  the  contending  parties  to  hold  com- 
munication with  each  other.  Amongst  Mohammed's  trained 
soldiers  he  had  no  less  than  forty  Niam-niatu,  who  were 
very  devoted  to  him.  These  would  appear  to  have  held 
some  correspondence  with  the  enemy,  and  from  them  we 
learnt  that  the  A-Banga  were  greatly  irritated  at  the  con- 
duct of  Wando,  who,  after  urging  them  to  attack  us,  had  left 
them  in  the  lurch.  They  complained  that  all  they  had  got 
from  their  acquiescence  in  his  wish  was  tliiit  the  "Turks" 
had  killed  their  fellow-comrades  and  laid  waste  their  land. 
Wando  himself,  they  said,  had  had  an  unpropitious  augury 
at  the  beginning  of  the  fray,  and,  intimidated  at  the  pro- 
spect, had  abandoned  his  scheme ;  he  had  withdrawn  to  the 
recesses  of  the  forest, 'and,  in  spite  of  the  remonstrances  <if 
the  A-Banga,  he  now  refused  to  render  them  any  aid. 

The  little  wooden  bench,  the  "  boroo,"  which  I  have 
already  described,  was  also  consulted  in  our  own  camp.  My 
two  Niam-niam,  who  were  no  great  heroes,  although  they  had 
an  almost  unlimited  confidence  in  Wando's  power,  had  a  still 
more  unbounded  reliance  upon  the  answers  of  their  wooden 
oracle.  The  test  had  been  very  unfavourable  for  one  of 
them,  but  I  was  told  that  it  had  promised  a  safe  escape  for 


182  THE  HEART  OF  AFRICA* 

myself,  a  circumstance  that  once  again  confirmed  my  people 
in  their  opinion  of  my  unchangeable  good  luck.  The  A- 
Bano-a  did  indeed  make  an  exception  in  my  favour  when 
they  shouted  their  defiance  from  the  ant-liills ;  the  Turks, 
they  vowed,  should  perish,  but  the  white  man  might  go 
scot-free,  because  it  was  the  first  time  of  his  coming  to  their 
land.  The  quietness  and  retirement  of  my  daily  occupation, 
my  interested  delight  in  studying  the  peculiarities  of  those 
I  saw,  and  perhaps,  too,  my  reputation  of  being  a  harmless 
"  leaf-eater,"  all  seem  to  have  conspired  to  gain  me  a  general 
good-will. 

Little  Tikkitikki  was  perfectly  unmoved  by  all  the  pro- 
ceedings ;  he  showed  no  sign  of  fear ;  he  skipped  about  and 
played  with  the  war-trophies;  but  chiefly  he  stuffed  himself 
with  sesame-pap,  of  which  there  was  a  lavish  abundance  at 
his  disposal. 

On  the  fourth  morning  the  enemy  had  entirely  vanished ; 
the  inhabitants,  too,  had  all  utterly  gone.  Throughout  the 
period  of  warfare,  the  Nubians,  neither  in  courage  nor  in 
endurance,  had  coaie  out  particularly  strong.  The  main 
burden  of  the  contest  had  fallen  upon  the  "  Farookh."  As 
a  matter  of  fact,  however,  the  Nubian  regulars  and  the  black 
Farookh  are  equally  indispensable  to  every  comniauder  of 
an  expedition.  The  native  soldiers  may  be  the  better  shots, 
and  they  have  the  advantage  of  knowing  the  country  more 
thoroughly  and  of  being  accustomed  to  the  climate ;  more- 
over, on  rainy  days  (when  the  Nubians  would  sit  shivering 
in  their  huts)  they  will  wrap  their  gims  in  their  girdles  and 
with  the  greatest  alacrity  go  perfectly  naked  over  wood 
and  steppe  to  repel  an  advancing  foe ;  but,  at  the  same 
time,  there  is  always  the  risk  of  their  decamping  at  a 
moment's  provocation, — a  dilemma  into  which  a  commander 
would  not  be  lei  by  the  Nubians,  who  would  be  afraid  of 
deserting  at  such  a  distance  from  Khartoom.  The  Nubians, 
however,  are  much  more  often  ailing;  they  are  never  per- 


AGAIN  IN  MOTION.  183 

fectly  tractable,  having  an  unconquerable  aversion  to  all 
restraint ;  they  never  showed  themselves  as  remarkably 
valiant  in  our .  conflicts  with  the  savages,  and  were  in  con- 
tinual apprehension  of  being  devoured.  It  was  not  so  much 
death  in  itself  of  which  they  were  afraid,  as  of  being  de- 
prived of  the  rites  of  burial,  which  are  prescribed  in  the 
Koran  as  indispensable  for  obtaining  the  palm  of  Paradise. 
The  lack  of  a  grave  is  abhorrent  to  the  notions  of  every 
Mussulman,  but  the  idea  of  being  destined  for  the  unclean 
stomach  of  a  cannibal  was  intolerable. 

Blohammed,  encouraged  by  the  favourable  progress  of  his 
wound,  now  expressed  his  desire  to  quit  our  present  quarters. 
I  endeavoured  to  dissuade  him  from  his  purpose,  and  repre- 
sented to  him  that,  although  the  wound  had  closed  without 
any  suppuration,  any  exertion  would  have  a  tendency  to 
open  it  afresh ;  but  he  persisted  in  his  purpose,  and  deter- 
mined upon  being  carried  in  a  litter  across  the  hostile 
territory.  In  consequence  of  the  journey  the  complete 
healing  was  thrown  back  for  a  fortnight;  but  altogether 
I  congratulated  myself  that  my  amateur  surgery,  which 
had  hitherto  been  practised  mainly  on  horses  and  mules,  had 
proved  so  satisfactory. 

By  sunrise  on  the  fifth  morning  after  arriving  at  this 
inhospitable  spot,  our  caravan  was  again  in  motion.  The 
camp  was  burnt,  and  great  heaps  of  corn,  sesame,  kindy, 
earthnuts,  and  other  provisions,  were  scattered  about,  and 
as  a  matter  of  necessity  left  behind  upon  the  ground,  much 
to  the  chagrin  of  the  bearers,  who  had  once  again  to  face  the 
deprivations  of  the  wilderness. 

It  was  not  without  some  confusion  tliat  we  crossed  the 
Assika.  The  way  before  us  seemed  clear  of  enemies,  and  our 
crowd  moved  fearlessly  on  amongst  the  thickets.  The  white 
ant-hills  on  the  outskirts  of  the  forest  continued  to  afford 
admirable  stations  for  reconnoitring,  and  for  enabling  the 
advanced  party  to  announce  that  all  was  safe. 


184  THE  HEART  OF  AFKICA, 

Quitting  again  oar  previous  line  of"  march,  we  continued 
our  journey  towards  the  north,  and  crossed  three  more  brooks, 
each  of  them  conducting  us  to  a  fresh  grass  plain.  Once, 
just  as  we  approached  the  edge  of  a  gallery,  we  were  assailed 
by  a  shower  of  arrows,  but  the  volley  of  bullets  that  we  sent 
in  reply  very  quickly  deterred  the  invisible  foe  from  any 
further  attack.  No  doubt  the  enemy  were  close  enough 
upon  us  to  make  certain  of  their  mark,  as  the  number  oi 
iron-headed  arrows  was  usually  large ;  yet  they  did  not 
succeed  in  inflicting  a  single  serious  wound.  It  happened 
fortunately  that  the  bearers,  who  were  more  especially  ex- 
posed to  the  arrows,  were  thrown  into  no  disorder  ;  they  had 
had  tiie  careful  protection  of  the  Farookh,  who  had  made  a 
fresh  path  for  themselves  through  the  wood,  on  either  side 
of  the  beaten  track. 

After  passing  the  last  of  the  three  brooks  which  I  have 
just  mentioned,  we  came  to  a  cultivated  district,  and  as  it 
was  near  midday  we  made  a  short  halt  beside  the  hamlets. 
The  Bongo  had  now  free  scope  for  their  destructive  propen- 
sities ;  they  proceeded  to  cut  down  the  standing  maize  to 
their  hearts'  content;  they  not  only  plundered  all  within 
their  reach,  but  laid  waste  the  land  in  every  direction.  All 
the  world  over,  war  is  ever  war. 

In  ransacking  the  huts  the  plundering  parties  had  had  the 
luck  to  discover  some  of  the  missing  ivory.  A  number  of 
valuable  tusks  were  recognized  as  being  those  which  had 
been  purchased  from  Wando,  by  means  of  some  incisions  that 
Mohammed  had  made  upon  them ;  the  magazines  in  which 
they  were  concealed  being  revealed  by  the  cackling  of  a  lot 
of  hens  down  amongst  some  unthrashed  elensine.  When  the 
hens  were  found  a  quantity  of  eggs  was  found  with  them,  and 
I  was  in  consequence  treated  to  a  very  choice  breakfjxst. 
Eggs  are  very  rare  throughout  the  district,  the  Kiam-niam 
hens  being  as  niggardly  with  them  as  the  Dinka  cows  are 
with  their  milk. 


CAPTURE  OF  WOMEN.  185 

At  noon  the  sun  became  overcast,  and  the  whole  sky  veiled 
in  a  grey  vapour  that  reminded  one  of  a  late  autumn  day  in 
the  north.  A  phenomenon  tiien  ensued  which  is  by  no  means 
uncommon  in  these  regions ;  the  disk  of  the  sun  turned  quite 
red,  and  was  seen  to  be  encircled  by  two  distinct  concentric 
halos,  which  in  rings  of  shadowy  brown  embraced  at  least  a 
third  of  the  firmament  above. 

Turning  to  the  E.S.E.  we  kept  now  to  the  right  of  tiie 
depression  of  the  brook,  passing  numerous  groups  of  huts 
upon  our  way.  Isolated  dome-palms  (Hypheene  thebaica), 
rare  in  the  Niam-niam  lands,  reared  themselves  at  intervals 
like  landmarks  on  the  route.  Farther  on  we  crossed  the 
Diamvonoo,  which  flowed  through  a  ravine  precipitous  and 
obscure,  and  subsequently,  leaving  the  old  road  to  the  west, 
we  had  to  ford  a  succession  of  gallery-brooks.  We  had 
already  made  our  way  through  four  of  these,  when  on 
approaching  to  the  fifth  we  caught  sight  of  a  number  of 
natives  who,  surprised  at  our  appearance,  slunk  away  from 
their  huts,  and  tried,  like  beasts  of  prey,  to  find  a  safe  lurking- 
place  in  the  adjacent  thickets.  The  capture  was  effected 
here  of  two  Niam-niam  women.  They  were  bringing  water 
from  the  brook,  and  being  espied  by  the  advanced  guard 
were  soon  secured  and  conducted  to  the  caravan,  where,  after 
the  failure  of  the  previous  days,  their  arrival  was  hailed  with 
a  shout  of  glee.  The  women  themselves  were  perfectly 
composed,  and  apparently  quite  indifferent,  making  them- 
selves at  once  thoroughly  at  home  with  such  of  their  country- 
women as  they  found  already  in  our  train. 

It  was  later  than  usual  before  we  halted  for  the  night,  and 
our  men  were  more  than  ordinarily  fatigued.  In  consequence 
of  this  our  camp  was  pitched  with  haste  and  carelessness. 
The  weather  turned  out  cold  and  very  rainy ;  the  ground 
became  so  soft  and  soddened  tliat  it  would  afford  no  hold  foi- 
the  tent-pegs ;  and  so  all  prospect  of  rest  had  to  be  abandoned. 
Every  moment  the  pole  that  upheld  the  frail  shelter  above 

Vol.  XL— 14 


186  THE  HEAKT  OF  AFRICA. 

me  threatened  to  give  way.  I  held  tightly  on,  and  shouted 
through  the  commotion  of  the  storm  for  my  servants  to 
make  haste,  and  they  only  came  in  time  to  save  me  from  a 
thorough  drenching.  This  scene  had  to  be  repeated  more 
than  once. 

It  was  touching,  through  the  moaning  of  the  wind,  to 
catch  the  lamentations  of  the  Niam-niam  men  bewailing  the 
loss  of  their  captured  wives ;  cannibals  though  they  were, 
they  were  evidently  capable  of  true  conjugal  affection.  The 
Nubians  remained  quite  unaffected  by  any  of  their  cries, 
and  never  for  a  moment  swerved  from  their  purpose  of  re- 
covering the  ivory  before  they  surrendered  the  women. 

Anxious  next  day  to  continue  Our  course  to  the  east  we 
had  to  cross  so  many  streams  that  they  seemed  to  make  a 
labyrinth  of  waters.  The  windings  of  the  interlacing  brooks 
and  the  network  of  entangled  streams  apparently  corresponded 
almost  precisely  with  what  Livingstone  describes  as  the  hy- 
drographical  character  of  the  country  on  the  west  of  Lake 
Tanganyika,  and  which  he  has  compared  to  frosted  window 
panes  in  winter.  This  great  explorer  (who  has  been  over  at 
least  a  third  of  the  vast  continent  of  Africa)  noticed  a  similar 
source-territory  through  which  flowed  theLualaba,*atthat  time 
quite  an  enigmatical  stream.  Its  course,  indeed,  was  towards 
the  north,  but  Livingstone  was  manifestly  in  error  when  he 
took  it  for  a  true  source  of  the  Nile ;  a  supposition  that 
might  have  some  semblance  of  foundation,  originating  in  the 
inexplicable  volume  of  the  water  of  Lake  Mwootan  (Albert 
Nyanza),  but  which  was  negatived  completely  as  soon  as 
more  ample  investigation  had  been  made  as  to  the  com- 
parative level,  direction,  and  connection  of  other  rivers, 
especially  of  the  Welle. 

We  now  found  ourselves  in  a  locality  with  which  our  own 
Niam-niam  were  by  no  means  acquainted,  and  there  was  no 


*  lu  one  of  his  letters,  Livingstone  describes  the  Lualaba  as  "  a  lacustrine 
river." 


LOSING  THE  WAY.  187 

facility  for  getting  any  proper  guides ;  just,  therefore,  as 
might  be  expected,  we  missed  our  way,  and  proceeded 
(without  knowing  whither  we  should  come)  for  a  couJ)le  of 
leagues  aloug  a  splendid  gallery,  where  numbers  of  silver- 
white  colobus-apes  were  merrily  taking  their  pleasure. 

I  had  my  suspicions  that  we  were  going  wrong,  and  by 
referring  to  my  journal  in  which  I  had  entered  the  details  of 
our  former  route,  I  ascertained  that  we  were  now  taking  the 
same  direction  as  we  had  followed  then.  Further  inquiry 
soon  convinced  us  that  we  were  proceeding  straight  towards 
the  spot  where  we  had  last  met  Wando,  and  that  in  fact  we 
were  not  distant  more  than  three  miles  from  his  residence. 
We  were  quite  aware  that  he  was  not  just  then  at  his  Mbanga, 
but  still  there  was  no  doubt  that  if  we  would  ensure  reaching 
Mohammed's  Seriba  unmolested,  it  would  be  politic  to  make 
a  wider  circuit  round  the  hostile  district,  and  accordingly, 
without  delay,  we  retraced  our  steps  for  a  considerable 
distance. 

On  the  confines  of  the  gallery,  the  land  had  just  been 
(deared  for  a  crop  of  sweet-potatoes,  and  a  number  of  women 
was  occupied  in  the  work.  They  had  a  lot  of  dogs  scampering 
about,  and  the  sight  of  these  caused  quite  an  excitement 
amongst  our  Mittoo-bearers,  who  darted  at  them  with  their 
spears,  and  slaughtered  them  in  the  most  remorseless  fashion. 
Pitiable  and  heartrending  in  the  extreme  it  was  to  see  the 
poor  brutes  writhing  upon  the  lances.  I  must  confess  to  have 
felt  more  sympathy  for  the  dogs  in  this  country  than  for  all 
the  men.  Perchance  some  one  is  inclined  to  reprobate  such 
a  sentiment ;  but  I  think  I  could  show  him  a  picture  where 
his  own  best  sympathies  would  hardly  be  with  his  fellow- 
creatures.  I  could  paint  for  him  the  spectacle,  as  it  has  been 
seen  on  a  Sunday  morning  in  some  thriving  town,  when  all 
the  residents  are  sallying  out  in  their  best  attire,  and  in 
mournful  contrast  a  string  of  poor  ill-clad,  dejected  emigrants 
passes  by.     What  is  it  then,  I  would  ask,  that  gives  the 


188  THE  HEART  OF  AFRICA. 

deepest,  truest  pathos  to  the  scene  ?  It  is  not  the  sight  of 
the  humtm  wretchedness,  which  probably  is  the  penalty  of 
indolence  or  crime,  but  rather  it  is  more  than  all  the  sight  of 
the  faithful  dog  that  lias  followed  its  master  through  weal 
and  woe,  never  quitting  his  side,  and  taking  its  share  in  all 
the  vicissitudes  of  Jiis  lot. 

We  had  now  turned  due  east  along  a  road  that  led  us 
across  the  Dyagbe,  the  brook  that  ran  past  Wando's  residence ; 
and,  after  marching  for  three  hours  over  a  desert  steppe,  we 
finally  encamped  upon  the  left  bank  of  a  large  gallery-wood, 
where  the  vegetation  was  so  luxuriant,  that,  forgetting  all  my 
fatigue,  I  botanised  until  night  stopped  my  further  researches. 
Game  was  abundant,  and  we  had  a  savoury  supper  of  roast 
antelope. 

The  next  morning  was  wet  and  gloomy.  In  forcing  our 
way  through  the  dripping  thickets,  in  order  to  reach  the 
river,  we  got  thoroughly  drenched  to  the  skin.  We  had  also 
to  endure  incessant  torture  from  the  barbs  of  the  calamus 
(the  generic  name  of  the  rotang),  which  like  so  many  little 
pike-hooks  insinuated  themselves  through  our  clothes  to  our 
flesh:  attached  to  the  twigs  and  universally  diifused  among 
the  bushes,  they  were  a  perpetual  irritation  for  the  traveller. 
After  we  had  accomplished  this  irritating  passage,  we  pro- 
ceeded northwards,  crossed  two  more  brooks  of  a  similar 
character,  and  arrived  at  a  cultivated  and  populous  district 
on  the  banks  of  the  Mbrwole. 

The  Farookb,  who  had  been  sent  on  for  a  league  in 
advance,  had  effectually  scoured  the  district,  and  had  been 
rewarded  by  the  capture  of  a  young  lady  of  rank :  she  had 
been  taken  by  surprise,  and  in  the  wonted  manner  of  the 
country  endeavoured  to  save  herself  by  taking  refuge  in  the 
forest,  but  she  was  tracked  like  a  deer,  and  captured  after  a 
short  chase.  She  was  attired  in  a  magnificent  apron  of  skins, 
and  was  elaborately  as  well  as  fantastically  adorned  with 
strings  of  teeth  ;  and  to  judge  from  the  numerous  trophies 


THE  MBRWOLE.  189 

of  the  chase  with  which  she  was  decorated,  she  might  be 
suspected  of  having  a  mighty  Nimrod  amongst  her  circle 
of  admirers.  Full-grown  men  are  never  seized  on  these 
occasions,  and  that  for  two  reasons  ;  in  the  first  place  because 
considering  capture  as  identical  with  death,  they  defend 
themselves  with  the  fury  of  desperation ;  and  secondly, 
because  they  are  of  no  value  as  slaves.  In  these  expe- 
ditions, it  is  an  understood  thing  that  the  sheyba,  or  yoke,  is 
never  employed  to  fetter  strong  men;  it  would  be  far  too 
much  trouble  to  look  after  them  and  to  drive  them  along 
when  all  one's  energies  are  required  for  the  protection  of 
the  baggage. 

The  Mbrwole,  which,  ten  miles  lower  down,  after  receiving 
a  number  of  rivulets  from  the  south,  becomes  a  considerable 
stream,  had  here  the  appearance  of  being  nothing  more  than 
an  ordinary  gallery-brook ;  and  if  I  had  not  heard  the  name 
from  the  Niam-niam,  who  fire  always  accurate  in  the  nomen- 
clature of  their  waters,  I  should  have  never  imagined  that  it 
was  the  main  stream.  The  Bahr-el-Wando,  as  it  is  called  by 
the  Khartoomers,  flowed  due  west ;  and  though  doubtless  it 
was  fed  by  various  minor  brooks,  it  was  here  little  more  than 
a  ditch  of  a  few  feet  in  breadth ;  yet  the  entire  depression, 
clothed  with  its  woody  heights,  was  scarcely  less  than  1500 
paces  broad. 

The  abject  terror  which  the  Niam-niam  men  displayed,  lest 
they  should  be  devoured,  formed  a  very  remarkable  contrast 
to  the  quiet  composure  of  the  young  woman  who  had  just 
been  captured,  and  who,  without  any  siga  of  fear,  entered  into 
conversation  and  was  ready  to  furnish  us  with  whatever 
geographical  information  she  could.  Hei-  calm  demeanour 
led  me  to  the  conclusion  that  the  Niam-niam  forego  eating 
their  female  prisoners  of  war,  for  the  advantage  of  reserving 
them  as  slaves. 

Under  the  guidance  of  our  captive,  we  crossed  the  Mbrwole, 
and  taking  possession  of  the  huts  on  the  opposite  bank,  we 


190  THE  HEAET  OF  AFRICA. 

found  ourselves  towards  midday  well  installed  in  a  comfort- 
able camp. 

The  proximity  of  our  position  here  to  the  thickets  made  a 
nocturnal  attack  more  than  probable.  I  resolved,  therefore, 
to  pitch  my  own  tent  in  the  middle  of  the  huts  and  to  keep 
a  lamp  burning  throughout  the  night.  The  tent  conse- 
quently became  (as  it  was  in  a  measure  transparent)  a  great 
lantern  in  the  darkness  and  formed  a  target  for  the  aim  of 
the  missiles  from  the  woods,  a  number  of  arrows  being  found 
on  the  following  morning  sticking  in  the  top  ;  these  I  have 
preserved  as  memorials  of  our  bivouac  on  the  Mbrwole.  All 
night  long  the  natives  were  skirmishing  with  our  outposts, 
thus  necessitating  a  continual  fire  in  reply ;  but  although 
I  slept  alone  in  my  tent,  the  experience  of  the  last  few  days 
had  so  accustomed  me  to  the  perpetual  shots  that  my  night's 
rest  was  perfectly  undisturbed.  I  was  well  aware  that  before 
the  enemy  could  get  to  my  position  in  the  centre  of  the 
camp,  they  must  alarm  the  groups  of  bearers  who  were 
crouching  round  their  fires,  and  must  afterwards  penetrate 
the  quarters  of  the  soldiers  and  of  my  own  servants. 

To  get  into  the  right  road  we  had  again  to  cross  the 
Mbrwole.  Another  two  leagues  to  the  west  along  the  left 
bank,  and  the  river  was  recrossed  once  more.  Over  culti- 
vated tracts  of  rising  ground  we  proceeded  to  the  north  and 
came  to  some  extensive  flats  of  gneiss,  the  first  we  observed 
in  the  course  of  our  return.  This  gneiss,  being  on  the 
hither  side  of  the  river,  and  to  the  east  of  the  furrowed  soil 
which  we  noticed  on  our  outward  way  between  the  Mbrwole 
and  the  Tjindukoo,  acquired  an  increased  significance  as 
apparently  belonging  to  the  line  of  elevation  that  traverses 
the  watershed  of  the  Nile. 

Leaving  this  interesting  locality,  we  made  a  palpable 
descent,  and  had  next  to  pass  over  the  meadow-waters  that, 
flowing  in  a  northerly  direction,  formed  affluents  of  the 
Lindukoo.     No  regular  path  conducted  to  the  farther  side ; 


THE  LINDUKOO.  191 

pell-mell  the  caravan  plunged  into  the  long  grass  and  clumps 
of  Phrynia  that  made  a  half-floating  surface  to  the  swampy 
depths.  Experience  makes  a  traveller  wary  in  getting  across 
these  marshy  spots ;  he  learns  by  practice  how  to  avoid  a 
ducking ;  he  gets  the  knack  of  kicking  down  a  clump  of 
weeds  without  lifting  his  feet,  and  can  tell  to  a  nicety 
whether  it  will  bear  his  weight ;  by  caution  such  as  this  he 
surmounts  the  difficulty  of  "  the  lacustrine  streams."  After 
passing  the  last  of  these,  we  made  our  next  encampment 
near  some  Niam-niam  hamlets,  which,  in  this  direction,  were 
the  last  before  we  should  arrive  at  Aboo  Sammat's  territory. 
Our  arrival  here  was  unexpected,  yet  before  the  bulk  of  the 
caravan  had  come  up  the  inhabitants  had  all  made  off,  so 
that  Ave  found  the  place  entirely  deserted.  Although  the 
late  outbreak  of  hostilities  had  put  the  whole  district  upon 
the  alert,  there  were  various  things  to  prevent  the  foe  from 
reckoning  with  any  certainty  upon  our  movements ;  uneven- 
ness  of  soil,  extent  of  wilderness,  prospect  of  supplies,  all 
influenced  our  plans,  which  might  be  changed  at  any  hour ; 
and  thus  it  happened  that  in  spite  of  all  the  spies  that  might 
be  set  to  watch  us,  the  adversary  was  never  safe  from  being 
taken  by  surprise. 

Ten  leagues  still  remained  between  our  present  quarters 
and  Aboo  Sammat's  hospitable  Seriba,  which  it  was  our  wish 
to  reach  by  the  shortest  route. 

An  early  hour  of  the  following  day  found  us  at  the  Lin- 
dukoo,  that  branch  of  the  Yubbo,  which  I  have  already 
described  as  the  last  tributary  of  the  Nile  system,  and  which 
is  distinguishable  from  the  other  rivers  of  the  district  by  the 
eastward  flow  of  its  waters.  It  was  here  considerably  en- 
larged by  receiving  the  meadow  waters  from  the  watershed. 
Bounded  by  banks  some  20  feet  in  height,  it  meandered 
along  a  deep  bed  that  was  30  feet  in  breadth,  through  low- 
lying  steppes,  which  at  no  great  distance  were  replaced  by 
woods. 


192  THE  HEART  OF  AFRICA. 

The  bank-forests  that  give  the  flora  of  the  southern  Niam- 
niani  lands  its  singular  resemblance  to  the  West  African 
type  of  vegetation  here  came  to  an  end.  In  arriving  at  the 
gneiss-hills,  we  had  entered  upon  the  limits  of  the  dense 
bush-forest  which  covers  Mohammed's  entire  territory,  an 
area  of  nearly  500  square  miles.  Whilst,  in  the  region  of 
the  gallery-forests,  all  the  trees  and  bushes  are  confined  to 
the  river-banks,  the  intermediate  spaces  being  occupied  by 
uniform  grass-plains,  here,  on  the  contrary,  in  the  region  of 
continuous  woods  all  watercourses  of  every  kind,  whether 
they  are  rivers  or  mere  brooks  are  (just  as  in  Bongoland) 
bounded  by  low  open  plains,  which  extend,  without  being 
wooded  at  all,  to  the  very  shores.  The  hydrographical 
system  is  better  developed,  and  imparts  a  well-defined 
aspect  to  the  scenery,  the  strips  of  open  grassy  steppe 
along  the  margins  of  the  watercourses  winding  like  streams 
of  verdure  through  the  dense  masses  of  the  foliage. 

I  swam  across  the  narrow  though  copious  river,  while  the 
bearers  conveyed  the  baggage  over  along  the  trunks  of  trees 
that  were  thrown  from  side  to  side.  Turning  to  the  north- 
east we  passed  over  two  more  meadow-waters  and  reached 
the  Yubbo,  which  was  now  50  feet  wide,  and  too  deep  to 
wade ;  as  no  trees  could  be  found  of  a  length  sufficient  to 
serve  as  bridges,  some  grass  rafts  had  to  be  extemporised. 

We  were  now  once  more  in  our  former  route.  Another 
half  league  brought  us  to  the  Uzze,  of  which,  at  this  season, 
the  stream  was  so  extremely  sluggish  that  by  my  usual  test 
of  a  gourd-flask  tied  to  a  string  I  could  detect  no  apparent 
current  at  all.  The  river  we  found  was  5  feet  deep  and 
25  feet  wide. 

The  herds  of  buffaloes  which  we  had  noticed  two  months 
before  seemed  never  to  have  changed  their  quarters.  A 
chase  was  started  while  the  sun  still  gave  us  light,  and  before 
night  closed  in  the  carcases  of  two  powerful  brutes  were 
seething  in  caldrons  that  had  long  been  empty. 


THE  BANKS  OF  THE  NABAMBISSO.  193 

Early  on  the  1st  of  ]\Iay  we  were  joined  by  some  Niam- 
niam  who  were  under  Mohammed's  jurisdiction,  and  who, 
having  been  stationed  as  outposts  on  the  borders  of  the 
hostile  territory,  had  been  attracted  into  the  frontier  forest 
by  the  shots  of  the  previous  evening. 

The  last  stage  of  our  march  before  reaching;  the  Seriba  was 
soon  accomplished.  The  road  led  through  a  charming  park- 
like wood,  through  which,  by  subterranean  channels,  the 
meadow-waters  of  the  Yabo  and  Tabongo  rolled  off  their 
verdure-hidden  streams.  In  this  latitude  (4°  5'  N.),  the  rain 
had  had  very  little  effect  upon  the  lesser  rivulets  of  the 
district,  and  the  only  signs  of  the  advancing  season  were  to 
be  found  in  the  increased  variety  of  newly-sprouting  plants 
and  flowers. 

We  had  a  general  rendezvous  two  leagues  west  of  the 
Seriba,  on  the  spot  where  we  had  made  our  first  bivouac  when 
we  were  starting  to  the  south.  It  was  here  that  Mohammed 
was  desirous  of  erecting  a  new  Seriba,  as  the  buildings  of  the 
old  one  were  becoming  somewhat  ruined,  and  this  appeared 
a  better  site  for  defending  himself  against  aggressors.  Be- 
sides Wando  on  the  south,  he  had  another  enemy  on  the 
west,  viz.  Wando's  brother  Mbeeoh,  who,  as  an  independent 
chieftain,  ruled  the  district  on  the  lower  Yubbo,  before  its 
union  with  the  Sway;  and  the  combined  attacks  of  these 
two  placed  his  possessions  at  times  in  considerable  jeopardy. 
To  escape  this  difficulty  Mohammed  now  resolved  to  under- 
take a  campaign  against  Mbeeoh  first,  and,  as  soon  as  this 
was  accomplished,  to  proceed  with  his  measures  of  reprisal 
against  Wando. 

Until  the  enterprise  against  Mbeeoh  was  over,  I  was  left 
to  take  up  my  abode  with  the  invalided  soldiers,  and  my  own 
little  retinue  upon  the  banks  of  the  Nabambisso. 


CHAPTEK    XVIII. 

Solitary  days  and  short  provisions.  Productive  ant-hill.  Ideal  plenty  and  actual 
necessity.  Attempt  at  epicurism.  Expedition  to  the  east.  Papyrus  swamp. 
Disgusting  food  of  the  Niam-niam.  Merdyan's  Seriba.  Hysena  as  beast 
of  prey.  Losing  the  way.  Reception  in  Tuliamy's  Seriba.  Scenery  of 
Mondoo.  Gyabir's  marriage.  Discovery  of  the  source  of  the  Dyoor.  Mount 
Baginze.  Vegetation  of  mountain.  Cyanite  gneiss.  Mohammed's  cam- 
paign against  Mbeeoh.  Three  Bongo  missing.  Skulls  Nos.  36,  37,  and  38. 
Indifference  of  Nubians  to  cannibalism.  Horrible  scene.  Change  in  mode 
of  living.  Invasion  of  ants.  Peculiar  method  of  crossing  the  Sway.  Bad 
tidings.  Successful  chase.  Extract  of  meat.  Eetiu-n  of  long  absent  friends. 
Adventures  of  Mohammed's  detachment.  Route  from  Rikkete  to  Kanna. 
Disappointment  with  Niam-niam  dog.  Limited  authority  of  Nganye. 
Suspension-bridge  over  the  Tondy. 

After  the  fatigue  and  excitement  of  our  previous  journey 
we  were  glad  to  recruit  ourselves  by  a  comfortable  camp 
life  in  the  dense  bush-forest  on  the  Nabambisso.  Spacious 
grass-huts  had  been  erected  for  our  accommodation  until  the 
new  Seriba  should  be  completed,  and  these,  nestling  amongst 
the  massive  foliage  of  the  abundant  vegetation,  gave  the  spot 
an  aspect  that  was  almost  home-like.  A  refreshing  rain  had 
moderated  the  temperature;  and  the  air,  mild  and  laden, 
with  the  fragrant  odours  of  the  wood,  gave  animation  both 
to  mind  and  body. 

Three  years  previously  all  the  land  had  been  under  culti- 
vation ;  but  nature  had  soon  effaced  well-nigh  every  trace  of 
human  labour,  and  the  roots  of  the  trees  and  shrubs  that 
had  only  been  partially  destroyed  by  the  tillage  had  sprouted 
forth  with  redoubled  vigour  and  still  more  gigantic  develop- 
ment of  leaf ;  thus  attesting  the  unfailing  power  of  vitality 


loan. 


aft« 


rtkii; 


A  NEW  SERIBA.  195 

in  the  wilderness  and  the  impotency  of  man  against  the 
persistency  of  nature. 

In  this  charming  locality  1  passed  the  early  days  of  May. 
a  month  which  in  these  latitudes  may  truly  be  called  a 
month  of  rapture,  when  the  commencement  of  the  rains  has 
renewed  the  life  and  growth  of  all  around.  From  morning 
to  night  1  strolled  leisurely  about  amongst  the  laushes, 
but  without  neglecting  a  chance  of  enriching  my  stores  of 
botanical  treasure  by  every  novelty  that  presented  itself. 

Meanwhile,  Mohammed  was  occupied  in  the  formation  of 
his  new  Seriba.  Hundreds  of  natives  were  employed  in 
conveying  the  trunks  of  trees  from  the  neighbouring  forest, 
and  these  were  erected  side  by  side  and  close  together  in  a 
deep  trench ;  the  trench  was  afterwards  filled  in  with  earth, 
and  the  palisaded  Seriba,  a  hundred  feet  square,  was  all  com- 
plete. So  quickly  was  the  work  accomplished  that  on  the 
fifth  day  after  our  arrival  the  invalided  soldiers,  by  whom 
it  was  to  be  occupied,  were  removed  into  their  new  quarters. 
The  other  soldiers  in  the  interval  had  vacated  the  old  Seriba. 
Everything  being  ready,  Mohammed,  accompanied  by  his 
entire  marching  force,  started  off  on  his  campaign  against 
Mbeeoh  and  Wando ;  during  his  absence  it  had  been 
arranged  that  I  should  make  this  quiet,  lonely  spot  my 
temporary  home. 

Confined  thus  to  a  narrow  area,  I  had  now  to  look  forward 
to  a  period  of  inactivity,  in  addition  to  which  I  had  the  pros- 
pect, by  no  means  pleasant,  of  submitting  to  a  scale  of  diet 
that  was  straitly  limited.  Our  provisions  were  all  but 
exhausted.  Under  the  most  favourable  circumstances, 
Mohammed  could  not  be  expected  back  in  less  than  twenty 
days,  and  the  slender  supply  left  for  the  maintenance  of  the 
few  men  who  remained  behind  as  my  body-guard  would  have 
to  be  carefully  doled  out  in  daily  rations  to  last  out  the 
time.  Our  cattle  had  all  long  since  been  slauglitered ;  goats 
were   nowhere    to    be   had ;    nor  could   any   hunting-booty 


196  THE  HEART  OF  AFRICA. 

reasonably  be  expected.  For  myself  the  only  animal  food 
on  which  I  could  rely  consisted  of  twenty  tiny  fowls  6f  the 
diminutive  Niam-niam  breed,  which  Mohammed,  from  some 
unknown  source,  had  procured  for  me,  reckoning  that  he  had 
thus  provided  me  with  one  daily  meal  during  the  three 
weeks  in  which  he  would  be  absent.  This  valuable  treasure 
was,  however,  a.  cause  of  some  solicitude ;  in  the  first  place  a 
strong  cage  had  to  be  constructed  to  secure  them  against 
the  robbers  of  the  night;  and,  secondly,  we  could  not  help 
begrudging  them  every  grain  that  they  consumed  of  our 
scanty  stock  of  eleusine. 

My  daily  allowance  now  consisted  of  a  fowl,  scarcely  as 
large  as  a  partridge,  and  one  single  slice  of  the  coarse  and 
bitter  eleusine  bread ;  but  these,  in  the  bracing  air  of  the 
Niam-niam  and  in  the  cool  stimulating  temperature  of  the 
early  rains,  were  far  from  being  sufficient  nourishment,  and  I 
began  to  be  conscious  of  the  pangs  of  downright  hunger. 
The  season  was  very  unfavourable  for  hunting,  but  even  if  it 
had  been  otherwise  I  should  have  felt  it  undesirable,  under 
the  circumstances,  to  have  wandered  far  from  my  quarters : 
the  ruined  condition  of  our  palisade  left  us  especially  ex- 
posed to  an  attack,  and  with  our  small  supply  of  firearms  it 
was  advisable  to  be  constantly  on  the  spot.  It  is  to  this  day 
a  mystery  to  me  how  the  Bongo  bearers  who  remained  with 
us  supported  life  during  this  period  of  privation ;  but  some- 
how or  other  they  had  a  wonderful  knack  of  discovering  all 
kinds  of  edibles  in  the  forest,  and  stirred  up  by  their 
example  I  eagerly  grasped  at  anything  the  wilderness 
afforded  to  supply  the  deficiency  of  my  meagre  cuisine. 

In  the  middle  of  the  open  space  of  the  old  Seriba  there 
happened  to  be  a  huge  white  ant-hill  of  long  standing,  and 
this  rendered  some  timely  assistance  in  our  need;  every 
night  after  there  had  been  heavy  rain,  myriads  of  white  ants 
appeared  on  the  red  clods  and  might  be  gathered  by  the 
bushel ;  they  belonged  to  the  fat-bodied,  winged  class,  and 


WHITE  ANTS.  197 

were  what  are  known  as  "  sexual  males."  Immediately  upon 
issuing  from  their  dark  retreat,  and  after  a  short  swarming, 
they  assemble  in  masses  at  the  foot  of  their  hill  and  proceed 
to  divest  themselves  of  their  wings,  leaving  their  heavy 
bodies  helpless  on  the  ground.  This  removal  of  their  wings 
does  not  seem  a  matter  of  difficulty;  the  instinct  of  the 
insects  seems  to  prompt  them  to  throw  the  wings  quite  for- 
ward till  they  can  be  so  mutilated  by  the  front  feet  that 
they  completely  drop  off.  Any  insects  that  remained  upon 
the  wing  were  soon  brought  to  the  ground  by  bundles  of 
lighted  straw  being  placed  under  them,  so  that  it  might 
literally  be  said  to  rain  white  ants.  Baskets  full  were  then 
readily  collected  for  our  table.  Partly  fried  and  partly 
boiled  they  helped  to  compensate  for  our  lack  of  grease  of- 
any  kind.  Not  unfrequently  I  mixed  them  with  uncooked 
corn  and  ate  them  from  the  hollow  of  my  hand ;  they  made 
just  the  kind  of  food  that  would  be  good  for  birds,  and, 
vfwre  avium,  I  took  them.  If  the  day  only  chanced  to  be 
rainy,  the  night  was  sure  to  be  provided  with  a  feast ;  there 
was  not  one  of  us  who  had  not  cause  to  be  thankful  for  the 
strange  abundance  of  the  ant-hill. 

Fortunately  I  found  that  I  had  a  little  reserve  of  the 
extract  of  meat  which  had  been  obtained  from  the  Mon- 
buttoo  goats ;  with  this  and  with  a  fair  supply  of  bread  and 
vegetables  I  could  have  managed  for  myself  very  well^  but 
unluckily  there  were  no  vegetables  in  the  district;  the  last 
of  the  tubers  had  been  devoured  and  the  gourd-season  had 
not  yet  arrived.  It  was  revolting  to  me  to  boil  and  eat  the 
gourd  leaves  like  the  natives,  and  I  therefore  endeavoured  to 
procure  some  of  the  Melochia  of  the  Arabs,  a  species  of 
Corchorus  which  is  found  both  wild  and  cultivated  throughout 
the  entire  district  of  the  Nile.  It  was  upon  this  plant  alone, 
boiled  like  spinach,  that  (with  the  aid  of  thyme-tea)  Sir 
Samuel  Baker  records  that  he  subsisted  for  some  weeks  at 
the  time  when  he  was  treacherously  deserted  by  the  natives 


lUB  THE  HEART  OF  AFRICA. 

on  his  way  back  from  the  lake.  At  this  period,  however,  of 
my  residence  on  the  Nabambisso,  the  Melochia  was  only  just 
beginning  to  sprout,  and  with  all  my  diligence  in  looking  for 
it  I  could  never  get  more  than  the  scantiest  of  platefuls  at 
a  time. 

As  the  discomforts  of  our  situation  increased  and  became 
more  and  more  trying,  I  was  thrown  upon  my  resources  to 
seek  enjoyment  of  a  more  ideal  nature,  and  in  the  neigh- 
bouring woods  I  found  the  best  of  compensation  for  all  my 
bodily  privations.  Whenever  I  was  beginning  to  feel  more 
than  ordinarily  disconsolate  I  would  hurry  off  to  the  thickets, 
and  there  amongst  the  splendid  and  luxuriant  vegetation  I 
was  sure  to  find  an  engagement  which  would,  at  least  for  a 
•time,  draw  away  my  thoughts  even  from  the  appeal  of 
hunger.  In  hardly  any  portion  of  the  world  ought  an 
enthusiastic  botanist  to  suffer  ennui  ;  wherever  there  exists 
a  germ  of  life,  there  is  also  a  stimulant  to  his  spirit ;  but 
hardly  a  scene  can  be  imagined  calculated  to  enlist  his  whole 
interests  more  and  to  divert  him  better  than  the  exuberance 
of  bountiful  nature  such  as  was  revealed  upon  the  Nabam- 
bisso. 

The  few  books  that  I  had  brought  out  with  me  I  had  read 
over  and  over  again.  The  perusal  of  Speke's  journal  and 
Baker's  accounts  of  his  difficulties  gave  me  great  interest, 
and  I  realized  very  fully  a  situation  which  appeared  to  coin- 
cide so  entirely  with  my  own.  During  my  forced  solitary 
hours  I  was  only  too  glad  to  get  hold  of  any  printed  matter 
whatever  that  was  nevv  to  me.  My  extensive  store  of  grey 
blotting-paper,  that  served  to  protect  the  dried  plants  was  silent 
enough ;  but  the  books  into  which  every  few  pages  of  the  paper 
were  stitched  were  fastened  on  the  backs  by  strips  of  paper 
which  I  carefully  removed  and  found  to  be  a  source  of  occa- 
sional diversion.  This  paper,  as  being  stout  in  quality, 
chanced  to  be  cut  from  the  Times;  and  the  articles  on 
tlie  leading  topics  of  the  day,  the  correspondence  with  the 


ON  LOW  RATIONS.  199 

editor,  and  even  the  concisest  of  advertisements,  all  sup- 
plied a  peculiar  interest.  It  was  strange  to  sit  here,  in  the 
very  heart  of  Central  Africa,  and  to  read  of  the  tropical 
wonders  that  graced  the  Crystal  Palace,  where  the  music 
that  floated  round  might  be  the  echoes  of  the  voice  of 
Titiens.  Tantalizing  it  was  to  read  of  "  Mountain  port  at 
twenty  shillings  a  dozen,"  and  to  learn  that  it  was  compara- 
tively free  from  alcohol ;  it  made  us  (involuntary  abstainers 
as  we  were)  thirstier  than  ever,  and  joyfully  enough  would 
my  Bongo  bearers  have  had  some  cases  to  convey.  I  wished 
myself  back  again  in  the  days  when  we  were  fighting  the 
A-Banga ;  for  though  they  were  days  of  peril,  they  were  days 
of  plenty,  and  the  old  Spanish  proverb  would  ever  and  again 
force  itself  upon  my  recollection,  "No  misfortune  comes 
amiss  to  a  full  stomach."  At  night  my  dream  was  akin  to 
Baker's  dream  of  pale  ale  and  beef-steak.  It  seemed  as 
though  one  only  required  a  good  meal's  victuals  that  he 
might  die  in  peace,  and  be  contented  to  have  for  his  epitaph 
the  saying  of  the  warrior  of  the  Eoman  Empire,  "  What  I 
have  eaten  and  what  I  have  drunk  is  all  that  now  remains 
to  me."  Nothing  could  elevate  the  vision  of  the  mind  for 
long ;  tied  down  to  material  things,  it  was  impotent  to  soar ; 
and  food  and  drink  became  the  single  and  prevailing  theme 
which  we  were  capable  of  handling  by  day  or  dreaming  of 
by  night. 

Reduced  to  this  low  and  depressed  condition  were  the 
feelings  which  I  experienced  during  the  later  portion  of 
those  lonely  weeks  that  I  spent  in  the  great  shed,  now  half- 
ruined,  that  had  formed  the  assembly  hall  of  the  old  Seriba. 
The  stipulated  time  of  solitude  was  drawing  rapidly  to  a 
close,  but  still  nothing  was  heard  from  Mohammed.  Our 
necessities  became  more  and  more  urgent :  to  remain  where 
we  were  became  more  and  more  impracticable ;  and  to 
escape  from  the  disasters  that  were  threatening  us  I  pro- 
posed to  set  off  on  an  excursion  to  the  nearest  settlement  of 

Vol.  XL— 15 


200  THE  HEART  OF  AFRICA. 

any  Khartoomers.  Forty  miles  to  the  west  of  our  present 
quarters  was  a  Seriba  belonging  to  Tuhamy,  and  a  lofty 
mountain  situated  in  its  vicinity  offered  special  attractions 
for  a  visit;  the  journey  would  be  safe,  as  the  route  led 
across  Mohammed's  own  territory,  and  on  our  way  we  should 
pass  another  Seriba  upon  the  eastern  frontiers  of  his  district. 
Ten  bearers  would  suffice  to  carry  my  baggage  for  this  little 
trip,  and  I  need  hardly  say  how  glad  they  were  to  accompany 
lue  under  the  prospect  of  ending,  or  at  least  gaining  a  respite 
from,  their  season  of  privation. 

We  started  off  on  our  march  upon  the  21st,  and  after 
crossing  the  Boddoh  brook  and  two  smaller  rivulets  we  arrived 
at  the  Hoo.  This  little  stream  meandered  through  a  wood 
remarkable  for  its  diversity  of  trees,  amongst  which  I  was 
surprised  to  see  the  Sparmannia  of  Southern  Africa.  The 
banks  themselves  were  enclosed  by  dense  bushes  of  a  new 
species  of  Stipularia,  of  which  the  numerous  blossoms,  half- 
hidden  in  their  purple  sheaths,  gave  a  singular  appearance  to 
the  plant.  It  belongs  to  the  characteristic  stream-vegetation 
of  the  spot. 

Beyond  the  Hoo  we  came  to  a  ravine  of  a  hundred  feet  in 
depth  with  a  charming  hedge  of  zawa  trees  ;  and  then  cross- 
ing two  more  brooks,  copiously  supplied  with  water  and 
both  running  to  the  north,  we  terminated  our  twelve  miles' 
march  and  found  a  hospitable  "reception  in  the  huts  of 
Ghitta,  an  overseer  of  some  of  the  Niam-niam  subject  to  my 
friend  Mohammed.  After  our  recent  privations  we  seemed 
quite  overpowered  by  the  liberality  of  the  entertainment 
offered  us  by  Ghitta ;  he  procured  corn  for  the  bearers,  he 
brought  out  several  flasks  of  eleusine-beer,  and  more  than 
satisfied  all  reasonable  claims  upon  his  hospitality.  To  the 
great  diversion  of  the  assembled  villagers  I  shot  a  great 
number  of  turtle-doves  in  the  adjacent  trees.  This  species, 
with  the  white  ring  round  the  throat,  is  found  all  througli 
the  year  in  well-nigh  every  part  of  Central  Africa,  although 


MADIKAMM.  201 

it  appears  to  avoid  certain  localities,  such  for  instance  as  the 
vicinity  of  our  ruined  Seriba,  where  we  should  have  been 
most  thankful  for  such  an  addition  to  our  scanty  stores ;  the 
birds,  however,  manifestly  have  a  preference  for  particular 
places,  but  wherever  they  resort  they  are  generally  to  be 
noticed  amongst  the.  foliage  in  immense  flocks. 

The  soil  of  this  region  was  once  more  broken  by  deep 
clefts,  and  was  alternately  a  series  of  gentle  undulations  and 
of  deep-cut  ravines.  Beyond  Ghitta's  village  the  road  turned 
towards  the  south-east  and  crossed  a  brook ;  further  on  it 
passed  through  a  district  enlivened  by  numerous  farmsteads 
and  where  some  sorghum-fields  testified  to  the  influence  of 
their  neighbours  on  the  east  upon  the  industry  of  the 
inhabitants.  The  district  was  named  Madikamm,  being 
called  so  after  the  second  brook  to  the  east  of  Ghitta's 
hamlets.  The  majority  of  men  capable  of  bearing  arms  had 
accompanied  Mohammed  on  his  campaign ;  consequently 
the  huts  had  hardly  any  other  occupants  but  women  and 
children,  who  retreated  shyly  as  we  advanced,  and  shut 
themselves  up  in  their  pretty  dwellings. 

The  votive  pillars  adorned  with  many  a  variety  of  skulls 
demonstrated  that  at  certain  seasons  the  hunting  booty  must 
be  very  large ;  the  diversity  of  antelopes,  however,  was  far 
smaller  than  amongst  the  Bongo  and  Mittoo,  a  circumstance 
that  recalled  to  my  mind  an  observation  made  by  many 
travellers  in  South  Africa  who  have  affirmed  that  wherever 
there  are  many  elephants  there  is  comparatively  a  scarce- 
ness in  the  number  of  antelopes  :  the  greater  beasts,  doubt- 
less, make  too  much  commotion  in  the  forests,  and  in  their 
wanderings  by  night  disturb  the  haunts  and  hiding-places  of 
the  more  timid  game. 

Leaving  the  villages  of  Madikamm  in  our  rear,  we  found 
ourselves  on  the  edge  of  a  great  swamp  a  thousand  feet  wide, 
which  moved  its  insidious  course  northwards  in  the  direction 
of  the  adjacent  territory  of  the  Babuckur.     It  was  covered 


202  THE  HEART  OF  AFRICA. 

in  its  entire  width  by  a  huge,  half-floating  mass  of  papyrus, 
which,  called  "  Bodumoh  "  by  the  Niani-niam,  gives  its  name 
to  the  marshy  waters.  This  was  the  first  specimen  of  the 
papyrus  that  I  had  seen  in  the  depth  of  the  interior  at  so 
great  a  distance  from  the  two  main  affluents  of  the  Upper 
Nile,  and  it  gave  a  new*  character  to  the  locality ;  it  is,  how- 
ever, a  characteristic  of  the  swampy  region  on  the  upper 
course  of  the  Sway,  where  the  reduced  and  meagre  remnant 
of  Babuckur,  sorely  pressed  on  every  side,  drag  out  their 
miserable  lives ;  their  frontiers  were  only  a  league  to  the 
north  of  the  spot  where  we  crossed. 

After  leaving  the  Bodumoh,  our  road  took  an  E.S.E. 
direction,  which  it  retained  as  far  as  Tuhamy's  Seriba.  At 
the  first  hamlets  we  reached,  the  inhabitants  viewed  us  with 
considerable  distrust,  as  the  soldiers  from  the  nearest  Khar- 
toom  settlements,  and  those  who  intended  to  pass  through 
Mohammed's  territory,  had  most  arbitrarily  levied  some 
heavy  taxes  upon  them. 

Beyond  the  huts  were  open  steppes  covered  with  towering 
grass  which  shado\ved  many  shrubs  that  were  entirely  new 
to  me,  and  excited  my  liveliest  interest.  Not  a  few  of  them 
were  in  full  bloom,  and  I  walked  along  carrying  a  bouquet 
that  it  was  no  exaggeration  to  call  magnificent.  The  natives 
might  seem  fully  justified  in  reviving  amongst  themselves 
my  name  of  "  Mbarik-pah." 

I  may  mention  that  careful  as  was  the  method  which  I 
have  described  of  our  wading  over  the  marshy  swamps  it  was 
not  uniformly  attended  with  success.  More  than  once  in 
attempting  to  cross  without  assistance  at  the  head  of  my 
little  troop  I  had  come  to  grief ;  and  now  once  again,  at  the 
very  next  swamp  we  came  to,  it  was  my  fate  to  have  an  in- 
voluntary bath.  The  dilemma  caused  us  some  delay.  I 
was  proceeding  leisurely  along,  but  coming  to  a  deep  hole 
concealed  completely  by  the  long  swamp  grass  I  suddenly 
fell  in  and  was  fished  out  again  by  my  people  thoroughly 


A  ROMANTIC  BRIDGE.  203 

drenched  and  plastered  over  with  an  envelope  of  mud.  It 
took  an  hour  while  I  changed  ray  clothes  and  while  the  filth 
was  cleansed  from  the  articles  I  was  carrying. 

Although  the  temperature  was  really  as  high  as  that  of  a 
July  day  in  our  northern  clime,  the  sky  nevertheless  was 
overcast  and  the  weather  windy,  so  that  it  was  with  chattering 
t«eth  and  an  inward  chill  that  I  continued  ray  march  along 
the  steppe.  All  prospect  of  the  surrounding  country  was 
obstructed  by  the  towering  grass.  There  was  no  distant 
vision  to  fill  the  eye,  and  there  was  little  to  relieve  the 
monotony  but  the  radiant  blossoms,  red  and  blue,  of  the 
flowering  shrubs. 

After  a  while  our  course  was  interrupted  by  a  brook 
fifteen  feet  in  width  called  the  Kishy.  This  was  too  deep  to 
ford ;  the  method  therefore  was  adopted  of  bending  down 
the  boughs  of  the  largest  shrubs  upon  the  banks,  thus  forra- 
ing  a  fragile  bridge,  over  which,  by  dint  of  caution,  we 
contrived  to  raake  our  tottering  way  without  the  raisadven- 
ture,  only  too  probable,  of  losing  our  balance.  The  Kishy 
speeds  swiftly  along  over  the  level  steppe  in  the  Babuckur 
country,  and,  after  receiving  the  Boduraoh,  contributes 
raaterially  to  the  volurae  of  the  Sway,  which  in  that  region 
has  already  assuraed  the  diraensions  of  a  considerable  river. 

The  country  beyond  the  Kishy  retained  the  same  character 
as  that  along  which  we  had  been  passing.  By  the  side  of  a 
little  spring  called  Nambia,  that  went  rippling  between  the 
bare  gneiss  flats,  we  raade  a  halt  for  the  purpose  of  following 
up  some  guinea-fowl,  of  which  the  notes  could  be  heard  at  no 
great  distance ;  the  whole  district  teemed  with  these  birds, 
and  I  could  now  again  anticipate  a  daily  raeal  such  as  I  had 
not  had  for  months. 

Hidden  deep  amongst  the  long  thick  grass  I  here  found 
an  aloe,  of  which  the  blossoms  were  of  a  greenish  cast ;  it  was 
a  plant  that  except  to  an  eye  keenly  looking  for  botanical 
rarities  would  have  been  overlooked  entirely. 


204  THE  HEART  OF  AFRICA. 

Whilst  we  were  making  our  lialt,  I  was  surprised  by  a 
visit  from  Merdyan,  the  local  chief;  he  had  heard  of  my 
arrival,  and,  accompanied  by  several  natives,  he  had  now 
come  to  give  me  welcome.  Merdyan  was  one  of  Mohammed's 
black  body-guard,  and  had  been  entrusted  with  the  super- 
vision of  the  eastern  frontier  of  his  territory;  with  three 
guns  at  his  disposal,  he  had  been  appointed  to  the  command 
of  a  little  Seriba  surrounded  with  fine  fields  of  maize,  which 
were  bounded  by  a  ravine  watered  by  a  copious  brook.  To 
reach  this  settlement  we  had  to  retrace  our  steps  for  a  full 
league  along  a  road  that  gradually  descended  through  a 
cultivated  country.  A  fine  prospect  lay  open  before  us ; 
upon  the  south-eastern  horizon  rose  the  imposing  mass  of 
Mount  Baginze,  and  a  little  to  the  north  a  pointed  hill  called 
Damvo.  On  this  day's  march  we  accomplished  a  distance  of 
about  eight  leagues ;  towards  the  close  of  it  we  came  to  one 
of  the  groves  of  Encephalartus,  which  are  scattered  about 
the  district,  and  known  amongst  the  Niam-niam  as  Mvooeh- 
piah. 

We  enjoyed  very  comfortable  accommodation  in  Merdyan's 
Seriba;  the  huts  were  clean  and  well-built,  and  I  had  an 
opportunity  of  renewing  my  observations  on  the  domestic 
arrangements  of  the  Niam-niam.  A  delicacy  to  which  I 
had  long  been  unaccustomed  was  provided  for  me  in  some 
fresh  ears  of  maize,  and  corn  was  not  wanting  for  all  my 
people.  There  were  two  things,  however,  which  could  not 
be  obtained.  We  had  neither  salt  nor  any  kind  of  oil  or 
grease.  Eiharn,  having  lost  his  proficiency,  seemed  to  be 
now  losing  his  memory ;  he  had  quite  forgotten  to  bring  the 
salt  that  would  be  required  on  our  way,  and  the  little  grease 
that  could  be  procured  had  far  too  much  the  suspicion  of 
being  mixed  with  human  fat  to  make  it  in  any  way  a 
desirable  adjunct  to  my  dishes.  Our  own  supply  of  butter 
had  been  left  behind  intentionally,  as  it  would  be  required 
dm-ing  our  coming  journey  to  the  north.     Whatever  food 


NIAM-NIAM  FOOD.  205 

the  natives  offered  to  my  people,  even  to  my  negroes,  only 
tilled  them  with  horror  and  disgust.  Amongst  many  others 
who  came  to  the  Seriba  to  satisfy  their  curiosity  about  me, 
there  was  one  fat  old  man  who  had  his  wallet  full  of  victuals 
hanging  to  his  side,  without  which  no  Niam-niam  ever  quits 
his  home.  My  little  Bongo,  Allagabo,  spying  out  two  tempting 
little  brown  paws,  like  those  of  a  roast  sucking-pig,  pro- 
jecting from  the  bag,  was  inquisitive  enough  to  peep  in  to 
make  a  closer  investigation  of  the  contents.  He  got  a  sharp 
cuffing  for  his  pains,  but  he  was  not  likely  to  have  been 
much  tempted,  as  the  delicacy  in  question  turned  out  to  be 
a  roast  dog !  At  another  time,  my  Niam-niam  interpreter, 
Gyabir,  who  was  here  in  the  full  enjoyment  of  his  native 
food,  offered  Allagabo  a  dish  of  lugma  (corn-pap),  in  which 
were  some  fragments  of  flesh  that  looked  like  the  limbs  of  a 
little  bird ;  but  AUagabo's  disgust  can  be  better  imagined 
than  described  when  he  discovered  he  was  eating  the  legs 
of  a  frog ! 

I  spent  one  day  with  Merdyan  for  the  purpose  of  in- 
specting the  neighbourhood,  and  in  the  course  of  my  rambles 
I  bagged  enough  guinea-fowl  to  supply  my  whole  retinue. 
For  the  first  time,  too,  I  killed  a  black  rhinoceros-bird  [Tetmo- 
ceras  abyssinicus).  I  had  previously  seen  these  birds  in  the 
Seribas  in  Bongoland,  where  they  are  so  far  tamed  that  they 
strut  about  fearlessly  amongst  the  other  denizens  of  the 
poultry-yard. 

As  I  was  returning  in  the  evening  1  was  witness  of  a 
circumstance  that  I  imagine  very  rarely  could  be  seen.  In 
the  twilight  two  great  forms  rushed  past  us,  and  were  so 
close  upon  us  that  we  involuntarily  started  on  one  side ;  the 
pursuit  was  so  hot  that  neither  of  the  two  animals  seemed 
to  be  aware  of  our  presence,  as  in  a  few  seconds  they  doubled 
and  rushed  by  us  for  a  second  time.  My  people  persisted  in 
saying  that  it  was  a  hyaena  chasing  an  antelope ;  but  as  I 
was  aware  that  a  hyaena  seldom  hunts  down  auy  living  prey. 


206     •  THE  HEART  OF  AFRICA. 

I  was  unconvinced,  and  went  early  on  the  following  morning 
to  investigate  the  traces  that  were  left.  On  arriving  at  the 
spot  I  found  that  the  assertion  of  my  attendants  had  been 
correct,  and  that  the  footmarks  were  undoubtedly  those  of 
a  spotted  hyaena  and  a  hartebeest ;  the  tracks  were  deep  and 
multifold,  and  testified  to  the  violence  of  the  pursuit. 

The  spotted  hyaena  (H.  crocuta)  is  somewhat  rare  so  deep 
in  the  interior  of  the  continent,  and  even  in  the  cattle- 
countries  of  the  Dinka  it  can  hardly  be  said  to  be  common. 
It  is  probably  driven,  through  lack  of  carrion  left  by  the 
lion,  to  seek  for  its  subsistence  by  chasing  living  prey.  This 
species  is  far  more  savage,  as  well  as  more  powerful,  than 
the  striped  hysena  of  the  northern  deserts,  and  appears  to  be 
distributed  over  the  whole  of  Africa  below  the  latitude  of 
17°  N.  The  skins  are  frequently  used  by  the  Niam-niam 
for  aprons;  they  exhibit  a  great  variety  of  markings  and 
differ  considerably  in  colour,  the  spots  being  sometimes 
light  and  indistinct,  sometimes,  on  the  contrary,  dark  and 
well-defined.  The  reports  of  the  Niam-niam  refer  to  two 
species,  one  large  and  one  small,  as  being  found  in  their 
land ;  the  smaller  kind  being  probably  the  variegated  hysena 
observed  by  Speke  upon  the  eastern  coast,  and  apparently  a 
cross  between  the  spotted  and  the  striped. 

The  route  from  Merdyan's  Seriba  to  Tuhamy's  was  through 
an  uninhabited  district,  and  was  crossed  by  so  many  streams 
that  it  was  quite  a  matter  of  difficulty  to  determine  it. 
Merdyan  undertook  to  provide  me  with  guides,  if  I  desired 
it;  but  as  any  intercourse  between  the  two  Seribas  was 
exceedingly  rare,  and  as  I  heard  a  long  and  loud  discussion, 
before  we  started,  as  to  which  was  the  right  direction,  I 
could  not  place  much  reliance  upon  my  conductors.  The 
country  through  which  we  had  to  pass  was  perfectly  flat ; 
the  trees,  too,  were  frequently  so  high  and  the  paths  were  so 
narrow  that  we  were  unable  to  get  a  glimpse  of  either  of 
the  two  mountains  which  we  had  previously  observed  from 


BEWILDERING  PATH.  207 

the  high  ground  on  the  west.  Neither  of  these  mountains 
could  be  much  more  than  seven  leagues  distant.  The 
ignorance  of  our  guides  caused  us  considerable  embarrass- 
ment. We  were  in  continual  dread  of  encroaching  upon  the 
adjacent  territory  of  the  hostile  Babuckur,  where  we  should 
be  entirely  at  the  mercy  of  the  cannibal  tribe. 

On  leaving  the  Seriba  we  followed  the  eastward  course 
of  a  little  brook  named  the  Nakemaka.  We  kept  beside 
it  until  it  reached  the  spot  where  it  joined  the  larger  stream 
called  the  Mahbodey,  which  we  crossed  by  our  previous 
method  of  bending  down  the  pendant  branches  of  the  over- 
hanging bushes,  and  then  hopping  like  birds  from  branch  to 
branch  as  best  we  could.  All  these  affluents  of  the  Upper 
Sway  inclined  to  the  north ;  all  of  them,  moreover,  had  a 
marked  descent.  The  next  of  them  was  known  as  the 
Meiwah,  and  about  a  league  beyond  we  came  to  the  actual 
mainstream  of  the  Sway,  which  was  here  thirty  feet  in  width, 
and  really  wider  than  the  united  measurements  of  the  two 
streams  above;  such  of  them  as  we  did  not  cross  by  our 
improvised  bridges  we  had  to  pass  by  swimming. 

After  a  while  we  came  to  a  large  forest  of  butter-trees, 
the  first  and  last  that  I  saw  in  the  country  of  the  Niam- 
niam.  The  underwood  was  so  dense,  and  its  foliage  so 
fully  developed,  that  we  could  not  see  more  than  ten  paces 
in  any  direction ;  our  guides  completely  lost  their  way,  and, 
without  a  clue  to  our  proper  path,  we  wandered  on.  To  add 
to  our  perplexity  the  sky  became  overcast  with  the  tokens 
of  an  approaching  storm,  and  we  thus  lost  whatever  aid  we 
might  have  got  from  the  direction  of  the  shadows.  With  a 
vista  contracted  as  ours  the  compass  was  of  little  service, 
and  in  a  country  like  this  it  was  very  unadvisable  to  leave 
the  beaten  paths  or  to  penetrate  into  any  untried  thickets. 
We  were  glad  enough  when  we  at  last  caught  sight  of  two 
deserted  huts  in  the  middle  of  the  wilderness.  The  floods  of 
rain  were  beginning  to  descend,  and  we  were  thankful  for 


208  THE  HEART  OF  AFRICA. 

any  shelter.  The  storm  that  had  burst  upon  us  continued 
with  such  unremitted  violence  that  we  were  compelled  to 
resign  ourselves  to  the  necessity  of  passing  the  night  in  this 
wild  spot.  The  interior  of  the  huts  swarmed  with  creeping 
things  of  the  most  revolting  character,  in  comparison  with 
which  the  most  obnoxious  vermin  that  are  ever  found  in 
houses  within  the  range  of  civilization  would  appear  mere 
mild  and  insignificant  domestic  nuisances.  By  heaping  up 
a  pile  of  fresh  leaves  and  grass,  I  contrived  a  sort  of  covering 
that  protected  me  from  actual  contact  with  the  crawling 
things,  but  the  lullaby  that  buzzed  and  hummed  around  me 
was  none  of  the  pleasantest.  There  were  the  swarms  of 
white  ants  that  were  incessantly  gnawing  and  scratching  at 
my  leafy  coverlet;  there  were  snakes  and  lizards  rustling 
in  the  cobwebbed  thatch  above :  there  were  mice  scampering 
and  squeaking  on  the  ground  below.  However,  for  the  con- 
dition of  things  there  was  no  help :  the  best  must  be  made  of 
it ;  so  I  shut  my  ears  to  the  commotion,  and  resigned  myself 
successfully  to  the  blissful  unconsciousness  of  slumber. 

When  I  awoke  at  dawn  the  rain  was  still  falling,  the  heavy 
drops  pattering  down  like  lead  upon  the  leathery  leaves  of 
the  butter-trees.  Hungry  and  shivering,  I  sat  upon  my 
grass  couch  and  peered  out  through  the  narrow  doorway 
into  the  obscurity  of  the  thickets,  where  I  could  see  the 
broad  backs  of  my  negroes  as  they  grubbed  away  with  all 
their  might,  defiant  of  the  storm,  in  the  hopes  of  getting 
something  from  .among  the  roots  to  appease  their  craving. 
Hunger  at  last  compelled  us  to  brave  the  weather,  and  to 
take  our  chance  at  proceeding.  We  directed  our  move- 
ments at  starting  towards  some  mounds  of  gneiss,  that  at  a 
little  distance  we  could  see  picturesquely  rising  above  the 
trees.  Our  intention  at  first  was  to  ascend  these  elevations, 
that  we  might  make  a  better  survey  of  the  land  around  us ; 
but  we  were  spared  the  necessity  of  climbing  up  them,  as  on 
reaching  their  base  we  fell  into  a  well-defined  path  which 


TUHAMY'S  SERIBA.  209 

we  did  not  hesitate  to  follow.  It  led  us  to  the  brook  Shoby, 
and  shortly  afterwards  to  some  human  habitations. 

Our  arrival  made  no  little  stir  among  the  natives,  who  had 
received  no  intelligence  of  the  presence  of  a  white  man  in 
that  part  of  the  country,  and  at  first  they  were  inclined  to 
suspect  that  we  must  have  come  with  hostile  intentions. 
My  Niam-niam,  however,  soon  reassured  them,  and  induced 
them  to  provide  us  with  guides  for  our  route.  They  led  us 
out  in  an  easterly  direction,  passing  through  a  country  that 
was  fairly  cultivated,  and  along  which  the  numbers  of  guinea- 
fowl  were  so  large  that  they  kept  me  fully  employed  during 
the  march.  We  had  now  only  one  more  brook  to  pass,  which 
was  called  the  Mossulongoo,  and  this  we  accomplished  in 
such  good  time  that  it  was  still  daylight  when  we  reached 
the  Seriba  of  Tuhamy.  Amongst  the  inmates  of  the  Seriba 
my  servants  recognised  several  of  their  former  acquaintances 
at  Khartoom,  and  very  enthusiastic  were  the  greetings  that 
were  mutually  exchanged.  The  controller  of  the  Seriba 
received  me  with  the  most  cordial  hospitality,  and  cleared 
out  his  best  hut  for  my  accommodation.  The  hut  was  en- 
closed with  a  high  palisade,  which  gave  it  an  additional 
protection.  The  controller's  superior  and  principal  in 
Khartoom  was  a  personage  no  less  important  than  the  chief 
writer  of  the  Kohhumdarieh ;  and  this  influential  authority 
had  in  the  previous  year  given  instructions  to  his  sub- 
ordinate that  he  was  to  show  me  every  possible  attention 
if  I  should  chance  to  pay  him  a  visit. 

The  Seriba  was  a  halting-place  for  Tuhamy's  ivory  expe- 
ditions from  the  Eohl  to  the  Monbuttoo  country.  Situated 
as  it  was  on  the  extreme  eastern  limit  of  the  Niam-niam 
territory,  it  formed  an  outpost  towards  the  Babuckur  land, 
which  Tuhamy's  companies  were  accustomed  to  consider  as 
their  corn  magazines,  and  on  which  they  relied  for  their 
supplies  to  carry  them  onwards  to  the  south.  But  the 
Babuckur  were  already  wearied  by  the  depredations  to  which 


210  THE  HEART  OF  AFRICA. 

they  were  thus  continually  exposed ;  their  impatience  made 
tliem  desperate  and  exasperated ;  and  a  very  few  days  after 
my  departure  they  made  an  attack  upon  the  Seriba,  burnt  it 
to  the  ground,  and  compelled  the  inhabitants  to  evacuate 
the  place.  Many  Nubians  as  well  as  many  Niam-niam  lost 
their  lives  in  the  engagement,  and  the  few  that  escaped  had 
to  make  their  way  to  the  nearest  Seriba,  which  was  that 
established  in  Mondoo,  at  the  distance  of  a  long  day's  journey, 
situated  amongst  the  Zile'i  mountains,  of  which  the  spurs  and 
projecting  terraces  were  visible  on  the  eastern  horizon. 
Subsequently  to  this,  all  Tuhamy's  settlements  passed  by  a 
special  contract  into  the  hands  of  G-hattas's  son. 

The  brook  upon  which  the  Seriba  was  situated  was  called 
the  Annighei.  The  chieftain  in  command  of  the  Niam-niam 
in  the  district  had  formerly  been  independent,  but  had  been 
deprived  of  his  authority  by  Tuhamy's  companies.  His 
name  was  Indimma,  and  he  was  one  of  the  numerous  sons  of 
Renje,  but  not  to  be  confounded  with  the  powerful  chief 
of  the  same  name,  who  was  a  son  of  Keefa.  He  came  now 
to  offer  me  his  welcome,  and  communicated  to  me  many 
interesting  details  about  the  surrounding  country. 

I  made  a  little  excursion  to  an  elevation  of  gneiss  a  few 
miles  to  the  east  of  the  Seriba,  so  as  to  gain  a  point  from 
which  I  might  survey  the  surrounding  mountains  and  make 
some  observations  to  verify  the  position  of  the  various  peaks. 
The  detached  ranges  for  the  most  part  were  situated  from 
ten  to  fifteen  leagues  from  the  site  I  had  chosen  for  my 
survey,  and  I  should  imagine  their  height  to  vary  from 
4000  to  5000  feet  above  the  level  of  the  sea.  All  those  who 
were  capable  of  giving  me  any  information  at  all  upon  the 
subject  agreed  in  representing  that  the  entire  district  was 
distinguished  as  Mundo  or  Mondoo,  and  that  the  principal 
chain  of  hills  was  called  Mbia  Zilei ;  also  that  at  the  foot  of 
the  mountains  was  the  village  of  Bedelly,  the  native  local 
overseer,  close  to  which  was  another  Seriba  belonging  to 


MONDOO.  211 

Tuhamy.  Between  me  and  the  mountains  flowed  the  river 
Issoo,  a  stream  which  I  was  assured  was  at  this  season  fifty 
feet  broad,  and  so  deep  that  whoever  attempted  to  ford  it 
would  be  immersed  up  to  the  neck.  The  entire  region  was 
rich  in  corn,  especially  in  sorghum.  Several  hundred  bearers 
laden  with  it  arrived  during  my  stay  at  the  Seriba,  and  I 
took  the  opportunity  of  laying  in  a  stock  for  myself;  it  is 
difiScult  to  obtain  sorghum  in  the  Niam-niam  countries, 
and  it  was  long  since  I  had  had  grain  of  such  a  superior 
quality. 

All  the  Niam-niam  of  whom  I  was  able  to  make  inquiries 
assured  me  that  the  natives  of  Mundo  are  a  distinct  people, 
difiering  from  themselves  both  in  habits  and  in  dialect ; 
their  precise  ethnographical  position  I  could  never  determine, 
but  I  should  presume  that  they  approximate  most  nearly  to 
their  Mittoo  neighbours  on  the  north,  and  more  especially 
to  the  Loobah  and  Abakah, 

This  Mundo  or  Mondoo  is  not  to  be  confounded  with  the 
Mundo  to  the  south  of  the  Bongo,  which  Petherick  reports 
that  he  visited  in  February  1858;  it  is  the  name  of  the 
western  enclave  of  the  scattered  Babuckur.  But  the  Mundo 
of  which  I  am  speaking  is  marked  upon  the«nap  by  Peney, 
who  in  1861  penetrated  westwards  from  Gondokoro  as  far  as 
the  Ayi  or  Yei ;  Petherick  too  has  inserted  the  district  upon 
his  map,*  under  the  name  of  the  Makaraka  mountains,  and  has 
assigned  it  to  exactly  the  same  locality  as  I  have  myself 
done.  In  spite  of  Petherick's  protestation,  many  geographers 
have  made  the  two  Mundos  identical,  and  have  thus  fallen 
into  the  not  unnatural  conjecture  that  the  Yei  is  the  upper 
course  of  the  Dyoor,  a  conjecture  of  which  my  journey  has 
fully  dem  nstrated  the  fallacy. 

The  Issoo,  as  the  upper  course  of  the  Tondy  is  here  called, 
forms  the  western  boundary  of  this  mountainous  district ; 


'  Journal  of  the  Eoyal  Geographical  Society,'  vol.  xxxv. 


212  THE  HEART  OF  AFRICA. 

alon<T  the  south  and  far  to  the  east  (probably  as  far  as  the 
source-regions  of  the  Yei)  there  stretches  an  offshoot  of 
the  Niam-niam  territory.  This  section  of  the  Niam-niam  is 
called  Idderoh,  and  is  subject  to  an  independent  chieftain,  a 
brother  of  Indimma's,  named  Bingio,  who  had  formerly  been 
an  interpreter  in  Petherick's  station  in  Neangara.  The  river 
that  waters  his  district  is  called  the  Nzoro.  On  all  maps 
this  territory  of  the  Idderoh  figures  as  Makkarakka ;  but,  as 
I  have  observed,  this  is  merely  a  collective  name  given  to 
the  Niam-niam  by  their  neighbours  on  the  east. 

We  had  a  day's  rest  in  the  hospitable  Seriba,  and  were 
well  entertained  with  meat  and  vegetables.  The  neigh- 
bourhood was  interesting,  and  yielded  several  novelties  for 
my  collection.  One  very  brilliant  ornament  of  the  woods  at 
this  season,  which  I  had  never  seen  in  greater  abundance, 
was  the  Abyssinian  Protea,  a  shrub  about  four  or  five  feet 
high,  with  great  rosy  heads  like  our  garden  peony.  Another 
plant,  one  of  the  Araliacese,  the  Cussonia,  which  is  usually 
only  a  low  shrub,  here  attained  quite  the  dimensions  of  a 
tree,  and  its  fan-shaped  foliage  crowned  a  stem  little  less 
than  thirty  feet  in  height.  In  the  damp  grass  near  the 
brooks  flourished  a  number  of  ground  orchids  with  remark- 
a.bly  fine  blossoms. 

•  A  yet  richer  booty,  however,  was  in  store  for  me.  A  few 
miles  to  the  south  of  the  Seriba,  jutting  up  like  an  island 
from  the  surrounding  plain,  and  visible  from  afar,  rose  the 
massy  heights  of  Mount  Baginze.  There  I  did  not  doubt  I 
should  realize  the  fruition  of  many  expectations. 

We  started  upon  the  27th,  under  the  escort  of  a  small 
body  of  native  soldiers,  from  tlie  Seriba.  Gyabir  was  in  the 
best  of  spirits.  He  had  just  achieved  a  great  object  of  his 
desire  in  attaining  a  wife.  The  controller  of  the  Seriba  had 
a  large  number  of  slaves,  and  as  one  more  or  one  less  made 
no  appreciable  difference  to  him,  he  had  presented  Gyabir 
with  a  young  girl  of  the  Loobah  tribe.     My  interpreter  had 


MOUNT  BAGINZE.  213 

long  been  desirous  of  securing  a  partner  of  his  lot,  and  had 
many  times  solicited  both  Mohammed  and  Surroor  to  procure 
him  a  consort,  but  hitherto  his  request  had  been  made  in 
vain.  It  is  not  an  easy  matter  for  a  man  without  some 
means  to  get  married  in  Africa :  if  he  negotiates  for  himself 
he  has  to  satisfy  the  demands  of  the  bride's  father ;  but  by 
applying  to  the  controller  or  ruler  of  the  district,  who  can 
exer,cise  an  absolute  authority  in  these  matters,  he  may 
succeed  in  obtaining  a  wife  without  previously  paying  down 
any  sum  by  way  of  compensation. 

We  marched  for  about  two  leagues  in  a  west  and 
south-west  direction,  and  once  again  crossed  the  little 
brooks  that  the  Sway  receives  on  its  right-hand  bank ;  at 
length  we  reached  the  pointed  gneiss  mound  called  Damvo, 
which  rises  about  200  feet  above  the  level  of  the  plain.  I 
mounted  the  eminence,  so  as  to  employ  its  summit  as  the 
second  station  for  my  observations  of  the  mountain  chains 
The  rugged  rocks  were  clothed  with.  Sanseviera,  and  to  the 
very  top  charming  shrubs  made  good  their  way  from  between 
their  clefts.  The  view  was  magnificent.  It  was  the  first 
mountainous  landscape  that  I  had  seen  during  my  journey 
that  exhibited  the  true  characteristics  of  African  orography. 
All  around  were  elevations,  more  or  less  conspicuous,  rising 
like  bastions  isolated  on  the  plain ;  whilst  high  over  all 
reared  the  crest  of  Mount  Baginze.  The  western  side  of  the 
mountain  was  precipitous,  and  might  almost  be  described  as 
perpendicular ;  towards  the  north,  on  the  other  hand,  it 
sloped  downwards  in  gradual  ridges :  in  form  it  reminded  me 
of  many  of  the  isolated  mountains  of  Southern  Xubia,  atid 
more  especially  of  those  in  the  province  of  Taka. 

Mount  Baginze  is  only  four  miles  to  the  S.S.E.  of  Damvo, 
but  this  short  distance  had  to  be  accomplished  by  a  circui- 
tous and  troublesome  route  leading  across  deep  fissures  and 
masses  of  loose  rock,  and  often  through  grass  of  enormous 
height ;  half-way  we  came  to  a  rapid  brook  hastening  along 


214  THE  HEART  OF  AFRICA. 

through  a  deep  cleft,  which  we  were  able  to  leap  across. 
This  was  the  source  of  the  Dyoor.  It  was  the  first  actual 
source  of  any  of  the  more  important  affluents  of  the  White 
Nile  to  which  any  European  traveller  had  ever  penetrated. 
My  Niam-niam  escort,  who  were  natives  of  the  district, 
positively  asserted  that  this  brooklet  was  the  Sway,  and  thus 
plainly  demonstrated  that,  however  insignificant  this  little 
vein  of  running  water  might  appear,  they  were  accustomed 
to  consider  it  as  the  highest  section  of  the  waters  that  con- 
tributed to  the  formation  of  the  Dyoor.  The  Sway,  they 
said,  was  the  largest  and  longest  river  of  their  land ;  Baginze 
was  their  loftiest  mountain ;  and  this  was  the  most  important 
stream  that  issued  from  its  clefts. 

Before  actually  setting  foot  upon  Baginze  we  had  still  to 
make  an  ascent  through  a  fine  forest,  but  in  due  time  we 
reached  the  mountain  and  made  our  encampment  close 
beneath  the  perpendicular  wall  of  the  western  flank.  The 
halting-place  was  upon  the  edge  of  a  deep  ravine,  where  a 
bright  thread  of  water  rippled  merrily  along  over  rocks 
covered  with  moss  and  graceful  ferns.  It  was  too  late  in  the 
day  to  attempt  to  ascend  farther  than  to  the  summit  of  a 
sloping  spur  projecting  towards  the  north-west  from  the 
southern  side  of  the  mountain,  and  which  was  about  half  the 
height  of  the  mountain  itself. 

The  first  few  steps  that  I  took  were  quite  enough  to  con- 
vince me  of  the  entire  accordance  of  the  flora  with  that  of 
the  Abyssinian  highlands.  Masses  of  brilliant  aloes,  with 
their  scarlet  and  yellow  blossoms,  grew  luxuriantly  upon  the 
slopes  of  gneiss ;  the  intervals  between  them  were  overspread 
with  a  mossy  carpet  of  SelagineUa  rupestris,  whilst  clusters  of 
blue  lobelia  reared  themselves  like  violets,  only  of  a  brighter 
hue,  from  the  surface  of  the  soil.  Here  and  there,  in  singular 
contrast  to  the  tender  foliage  of  the  shady  hollows,  lending 
moreover  a  new  and  striking  character  to  the  vegetation,  I 
found,  cropping  up  from  amidst  the  rocks,  the  thick  fleshy 


WILD  AFRICAN  PLANTAINS.  215 

leaves  of  that  remarkable  orchid,  the  Eulophia ;  and  on  the 
still  higher  declivities  I  met  with  yet  another  true  represen- 
tative of  the  Abyssinian  flora  in  a  new  species  of  Hymeno- 
dictyon,  a  dwarf  tree  of  the  class  of  the  Kubiacese,  which  in 
some  form  or  other  appear  to  embrace  at  least  a  tenth  of  all 
the  plants  of  Africa  in  these  regions. 

Wherever  one  of  the  bright  bubbling  streams  was  seen, 
like  a  shining  thread  upon  the  grey  monotony  of  the  rocks, 
there  I  was  pretty  sure  to  find  the  Ensete,  or  wild  African 
plantain.  This  is  a  plant  which  is  never  seen  below  an 
altitude  of  3000  feet  above  the  sea.  It  was  now  to  be 
observed  in  every  stage  of  its  growth,  sometimes  being  small 
like  the  head  of  a  cabbage,  and  sometimes  running  out  to  a 
length  of  twenty  feet  with  its  fruit  attached  to  a  short  thick 
stem  in  the  form  of  an  onion.  The  tender  leaves  were 
marked  with  a  midrib  of  purple-red.  It  struck  me  that  here 
in  the  wilderness  this  plant,  which  has  become  so  common 
a  favourite  in  our  greenhouses,  is  distinguished  by  a  much 
shorter  leaf-stem  and  by  a  more  compact  appearance  than  it 
bears  in  its  cultivated  form  when  its  growth  is  spreading  and 
graceful.  Not  unfrequently  the  Ensete  of  the  mountains 
bore  a  striking  resemblance  to  young  specimens  of  the  Musa 
sapientium,  though  it  exceeded  it  in  the  number  of  the  leaves 
it  bore,  there  being  occasionally  as  many  as  forty  on  a  single 
plant.  I  found  it  here  in  full  bloom,  but  without  any  pros- 
pect of  fruit ;  it  differs  from  other  representatives  of  its  class 
by  losing  its  leaves  at  the  time  of  its  flowering,  and  then  has 
the  appearance  of  an  elongated  onion  on  a  shaft  some  six  or 
eight  feet  in  length,  on  the  top  of  which  rests  a  compact 
truss  of  bloom.  Although  I  never  observed  any  side  sprouts 
from  the  wild  Ensete,  it  by  no  means  follows  that  they  are 
never  to  be  seen  :  a  single  authenticated  instance  of  tlie  kind 
would  demonstrate  almost  beyond  a  doubt  what  is  already  in 
so  many  respects  probable,  namely,  that  the  Ensete  is  the 
original  stock  of  the  cultivated  African  plantain. 

Vol.  II.— 16 


216  THE  HEART  OF  AFRICA. 

We  had  quickly  improvised  some  huts  from  the  long 
grass  at  the  foot  of  the  mountain,  and  they  afforded  us 
secure  and  sufficiently  comfortable  shelter  from  the  down- 
pour of  rain  that  lasted  throughout  the  night.  On  the 
following  morning  I  was  disappointed  to  find  that  the  sky 
was  still  burdened  with  storm-clouds,  whilst  a  fine,  drizzling 
mist  obscured  the  greater  part  of  the  view  that  we  had 
proved  to  be  so  lovely. 

My  sojourn  in  the  neighbourhood  was  limited  to  a  single 
day,  since  the  Seriba  was  suffering  from  the  general  dearth 
of  provisions,  and  could  ill  afford  to  entertain  us  :  there  was 
consequently  no  help  for  it,  but  if  the  ascent  of  the  moun- 
tain wefe  made  at  all  it  must  be  made  in  defiance  of  the 
heavy  rain.  I  was  quite  aware  that  the  adverse  weather 
would  make  the  task  altogether  uncongenial  to  my  guides, 
and  I  way  not  very  much  surprised  to  find  that  they  had 
made  off  during  the  night.  I  had  thus  to  start  off  on  my 
own  responsibility.  My  Nubian  servants  remained  behind 
to  warm  their  shivering  limbs  over  the  camp-fires,  so  that, 
followed  only  by  my  two  Niam-niam,  carrying  the  portfolios 
for  my  plants,  I  set  out  upon  my  enterprise. 

I  turned  towards  the  northern  declivity,  which  slanted  in 
almost  an  unbroken  line  from  the  summit  to  the  base.  At 
first  my  view  was  necessarily  circumscribed,  and  it  was 
only  after  a  good  deal  of  clambering  and  by  a  very  cir- 
cuitous route  along  rugged  places,  overhung  with  bushes, 
and  across  fissures  full  of  water,  that  I  succeeded  in 
finding  the  correct  path.  The  wind  was  so  strong  that 
although  my  broad  hat  was  weighted  with  pebbles  I  was 
obliged  to  leave  it  below.  The  highest  point  of  the  ridge  I 
found  to  be  at  the  south  of  the  summit,  and  thence  I  had  a 
magnificent  prospect,  being  able  to  see  for  fifty  or  sixty  miles 
in  an  east  and  north-east  direction.  Not  far  short  of  a 
hundred  different  mountain-peaks  were  visible,  and  of  these 
I  took  measurements  of  the  angles  between  the  more  im- 


ALTITUDE  OF  MOUNT  BAGINZE.  217 

portant,  which  I  subsequently  combined  with  the  angles 
which  I  had  already  observed.  I  also  made  a  drawing  of  the 
entire  panorama  around  me. 

The  upper  course  of  the  Tondy  was  plainly  visible,  and 
beyond  it  were  caught  the  terraced  ridges  of  the  country  to 
the  east.  The  northern  and  eastern  spurs  of  Baginze  were 
especially  picturesque ;  the  elevated  level  of  the  ground  at 
the  base  was  not  apparent  from  above,  so  that  they  stood  out 
like  isolated  eminences  from  a  uniform  plain :  three  more 
spurs  a  few  miles  to  the  south-east  also  appeared  completely 
detached  :  they  were  in  a  straight  line  one  behind  another, 
the  names  of  the  two  most  northerly  being  Bonduppa  and 
Nagongoh.  Somewhere  near  them  was  a  Seriba  belonging 
to  Poncet's  company,  who  had  reduced  the  former  indepen- 
dent chieftain  Bendo  (another  of  the  many  sons  of  Renje)  to 
the  same  state  of  submission  as  Tuhamy's  company  had 
brought  his  brother  Indimma. 

The  measurement  that  I  took  upon  the  spot  gave  Baginze 
a  relative  height  of  1350  feet;  but  the  barometrical  obser- 
vations made  at  the  base,  which  would  have  determined  its 
exact  altitude  above  the  level  of  the  sea,  have  unfortunately 
been  lost ;  I  believe,  however,  that  I  am  not  far  wrong  in 
estimating  the  entire  height  to  be  about  3900  feet. 

The  bulk  of  the  rock  of  which  the  mountain  was  composed 
consisted  of  a  gneiss  that  was  so  abundant  in  mica  that  in 
many  places  it  had  the  appearance  of  being  actual  mica 
schist ;  a  speciality  in  its  formation  being  the  immense 
number  of  cyanite  crystals  that  pervaded  it  in  all  directions  : 
a  similar  conglomeration  of  "  cyanite  gneiss  "  is  very  rare, 
but  amongst  other  places  it  may  be  observed  on  Mount  St. 
Gotthard  in  Switzerland.  Wherever  the  springs  issued  at 
the  foot  of  the  mountain  there  were  wide  boulder-flats  of 
broken  stones,  and  here  the  sheets  of  mica  and  tlie  prisms 
of  cyanite,  an  inch  or  two  in  length,  lay  cleanly  washed  and 
strewn  one  upon  another   in   sucli   thick   confusion  that   I 


218  THE  HEART  OF  AFRICA. 

had  to  wade  through  them  as  through  a  pile  of  rubbish. 
I  collected  several  specimens  of  the  rock,  which  I  brought 
to  Europe. 

Massive  in  its  grandeur,  isolated,  and  worn  by  time,  Mount 
Baginze  thus  stood  before  me  as  a  witness  of  a  former  era  in 
the  world's  history  and  as*  a  remnant  of  the  lofty  mountain- 
chain  which  must  have  once  formed  the  southern  boundary 
of  the  Nile  district. 

There  was  an  entire  absence  of  large  trees  everywhere, 
and  the  higher  regions  of  the  mountain  bore  but  a  very 
scanty  vegetation.  Contented,  however,  with  the  few  botani- 
cal discoveries  that  the  toilsome  trip  had  yielded,  I  began  to 
think  of  returning.  It  had  taken  me  four  hours  to  make  the 
ascent  of  the  mountain,  but  being  now  aware  of  the  correct 
path,  a  single  hour  was  all  I  spent  in  getting  back  to  our 
encampment.  In  spite  of  the  unpropitious  weather  I  felt 
that  I  could  have  enjoyed  myself  for  some  days  in  exploring 
this  enticing  neighbourhood  :  the  mountain  air  was  even 
fresher  and  more  invigorating  than  what  I  had  been  breathing 
in  the  Niam-niam  country — and  this  is  saying  not  a  little ; 
for,  in  spite  of  their  meagre  diet,  the  Nubian  soldiers  who 
came  thither  sickly  and  weakened  by  their  idle  Seriba-life 
always  returned  from  their  Niam-niam  campaigns  fat  and 
healthy,  and  with  renewed  strength  and  vigour.  My  atten- 
dants unfortunately  did  not  sympathise  with  my  ideal  enjoy- 
ments, but  made  such  loud  and  bitter  complaints  at  the 
increasing  inclemency  of  the  weather  that  I  should  not  have 
dared  to  prolong  my  stay,  even  if  I  could. 

On  the  third  morning,  then,  after  our  arrival  we  began  to 
return.  Although  continually  in  doubt  as  to  our  path,  we 
were  fortunate  in  hitting  upon  the  route  that  was  shortest, 
and,  crossing  the  Shoby  at  a  spot  where  it  was  contracted  by 
gneiss  walls  and  made  a  bend  to  the  north,  we  reached  the 
rocks  in  the  forest  of  butter-trees  at  which  so  recently  we 
had  passed  such  a  wretched  night.     Before  it  was  dark  we 


TIDINGS  FROM  MOHAMMED.  219 

once  more  entered  Merdyan's  Seriba.  The  long  march  of 
nine  hours,  made  doubly  arduous  by  the  many  watercourses 
that  had  intercepted  it,  had  been  one  of  the  most  fatiguing 
that  I  had  experienced.  I  took  a  day's  rest,  and  amused 
myself  by  shooting  guinea-fowl,  the  sport  being  so  successful 
that  I  supplied  my  people  with  as  many  of  the  birds  as  they 
could  eat  in  two  days.  We  performed  the  rest  of  our  journey 
thi'ough  incessant  rain,  and  on  the  evening  of  the  1st  of 
June  found  ourselves  reinstated  in  the  old  Seriba  on  the 
Nabambisso. 

Here  I  received  satistactory  intelligence  from  Mohammed. 
The  condition  of  things  had  decidedly  improved.  Still  the 
store  of  corn  was  small ;  but  the  gourds  had  ripened  during 
our  absence,  fresh  maize  had  been  brought  to  the  Seriba, 
and,  best  of  all,  the  guinea-fowl  had  effected  a  lodgment  in 
the  neighbourhood,  so  that  we  had  a  constant  supply  of 
animal  food  ready  at  hand.  As  a  consequence  of  the  con- 
tinual rains  edible  funguses  nad  sprung  up  in  such  abundance 
tliat  for  days  together  I  dined  off  guinea-fowl's  liver  and 
mushrooms.  In  every  respect  the  mushrooms  resembled 
those  which  we  use  in  Europe. 

I  may  mention  that  a  large  bufialo-hunt,  to  which  all  the 
Bongo  were  invited,  came  in  as  a  timely  diversion,  and  that 
day  after  day,  with  my  gun  in  my  hand,  I  was  up  and  doing. 

Before  many  days  had  elapsed  the  main  body  of  Moham- 
med's corps  returned  from  their  campaign.  Only  a  portion 
of  the  missing  ivory  had  been  recovered,  for  Wando,  under  a 
superstitious  dread  of  the  intimations  of  his  augury,  had 
persistently  remained  concealed  in  the  most  inaccessible 
places,  and  consequently  the  hostilities  had  been  mainly 
directed  against  his  brother  Mbeeoh.  Contrary  to  the 
general  practice  of  the  Niam-niam  princes,  Mbeeoh  had 
been  personally  engaged  in  the  conflict  and  had  exhibited 
remarkable  bravery.  On  one  occasion  it  had  been  with  the 
greatest  difficulty  that  Mohammed  had  held  his  own  against 


220  THE  HEART  OF  AFRICA. 

the  hordes  of  his  opponent,  and  in  a  raging  storm  had  been 
obliged  to  erect  a  kind  of  rampart,  made  of  straw,  to  afford 
a  shelter  from  which  anything  like  a  steady  fire  might  be 
opened  upon  the  assailants.  The  chances  were  dead  against 
Mohammed's  side,  but  it  is  notorious  that  the  natives  hardly 
ever  follow  up  any  advantages  offered  to  them  either  by  a 
downpour  of  rain  or  by  the  obscurity  of  night ;  and  very 
frequently  they  lost  the  most  promising  of  opportunities  for 
crushing  their  Nubian  oppressors. 

Just  before  Mohammed  himself  returned  there  was  a 
considerable  commotion  amongst  our  Bongo  bearers.  A 
circumstance  occurred  that  naturally  excited  some  conster- 
nation. The  bearers  who  had  been  left  with  me  in  the  old 
Seriba  were  in  the  habit  of  scouring  the  neighbouring  fields 
and  forests  every  day  in  search  of  victuals  for  themselves. 
One  evening  three  of  the  party  who  had  gone  out  did  not 
return,  and  their  companions  had  no  hesitation  in  avowing 
their  belief  that  they  had  been  captured,  and  that  they  would 
most  certainly  be  killed  and  eaten  by  the  inhabitants  of  the 
adjacent  district.  Early  on  the  following  morning  all  the 
Bongo  and  most  of  the  Nubians  who  were  with  me  started 
off  in  a  body  to  explore  the  neighbourhood  and  to  follow  up 
as  best  they  might  the  traces  of  the  missing  men.  Accord- 
ing to  the  statements  of  the  Bongo,  the  crime  had  been 
committed  in  the  district  under  the  control  of  Maddah,  to 
the  north  of  the  Seriba.  In  that  direction  the  party  bent 
their  steps.  Their  supposition  was  apparently  correct,  for 
after  following  the  tracks  into  a  wood  they  found  that  they 
terminated  in  a  ghastly  pool  of  blood.  Maddah  was  forth- 
with seized  and  hurried  to  the  Seriba,  where  he  was  charged 
with  being  answerable  for  the  disappearance  of  the  men.  In 
evident  confusion  and  with  much  excitement  he  began  a 
long  and  incoherent  preamble ;  he  declared  that  the  blood 
was  that  of  an  animal  which  had  been  slaughtered  on  the 
previous  day;    he  owned,  indeed,  about  the  three  Bongo, 


MISSING  MEN.  221 

that  he  had  seen  them  running  across  his  territory  and  had 
had  no  doubt  that  they  were  making  an  escape  to  their  own 
homes.  This  explanation  was  objected  to  on  the  ground 
that  the  obstacles  on  the  way  were  far  too  great  for  them 
ever  to  have  entertained  such  a  design.  Maddah  then  went 
on  to  say  that  some  of  his  Niam-niam  people  had  noticed 
the  fugitives,  and  had  shouted  after  them  to  know  where 
they  were  rushing  to,  and  why  they  were  scampering  along 
at  such  a  pace,  but  they  had  received  no  answer ;  and 
deeming  it  wrong  to  stand  idly  by  and  let  the  fellows 
decamp  from  their  owners  they  had  not  only  pursued  them, 
but  had  effected  their  capture  and  put  them  into  safe 
custody.  To  complete  his  tale  he  affirmed  that,  somehow  or 
other,  during  the  night  they  had  contrived  to  escape  ;  and 
this  was  all  he  knew  about  them. 

The  settlement  of  the  business  had  ultimately  to  be  left 
to  the  surviving  Bongo.  They  were  not  easily  satisfied  ; 
they  insisted  most  strenuously  that,  even  allowing  that  there 
miofht  be  some  truth  in  the  statement  that  the  Niam-niam 
had  pursued  the  fugitives,  they  liad  only  done  so  wdth  the 
object  of  sacrificing  them  in  order  to  indulge  their  appetites 
and  to  convert  their  flesh  into  food.  The  representation 
which  Maddah  gave  of  the  pool  of  blood  was  held  to  be 
especially  unsatisfactory ;  the  bones  of  the  slaughtered 
animal  were  demanded  as  a  proof  of  the  fact,  but  nothing 
was  forthcoming  at  the  hands  of  the  Niam-niam  but  a  few 
fragments  that  could  be  recognised  at  a  glance  as  belonging 
to  some  game  that  must  have  been  killed  months  before. 
Everything,  in  fact,  seemed  to  confirm  the  accusation.  All 
ao-reed  that  there  was  nothinfj:  to  exonerate  either  Maddah  or 
his  people  from  suspicion.  It  was  consequently  decided  that 
as  Surroor,  the  lieutenant  in  command,  was  absent,  as  well  as 
Mohammed,  on  the  campaign,  Maddah  should  be  reserved  for 
judgment,  and  meanwhile  must  be  kept  in  confinement  and 
placed  under  the  yoke  of  the  sheyba  to  await  his  sentence. 


222  THE  HEART  OF  AFRICA. 

But  when  Mohammed  returned  he  professed  to  be  occu- 
pied by  mpre  pressing  and  important  business.  It  did  not 
require  much  penetration  to  perceive  that  there  were  certain 
motives  of  policy  which  were  prompting  him  to  procrastinate 
the  investigation  of  the  affair.  The  truth  was  he  was 
anxious,  if  he  could,  to  keep  on  good  terms  with  the  Niam- 
niam,  knowing  that  their  services  were  indispensable  to  him 
for  the  usual  raid  against  the  Babuckur  that  had  to  be 
undertaken  for  the  purpose  of  getting  a  supply  of  com  to 
avert  the  prospect  of  his  caravan  being  starved.  Without 
their  co-operation  it  would  be  impossible  for  his  soldiers  to 
cross  the  marshy  swamps.  Had  the  disaster  befallen  any  of 
the  Nubians  or  Mussulmen  at  all,  there  can  be  no  doubt 
that  Mohammed  would  have  acted  very  differently,  and 
would  not  have  suffered  considerations  of  policy  to  deter  him 
from  making  an  example  of  the  delinquents. 

The  raid  upon  the  Babuckur  was  an  expedition  that 
Mohammed  did  not  accompany  in  person.  He  entrusted  it 
entirely  to  Surroor,  who  took  the  charge  of  as  many  of  the 
subordinate  Niam-niam  as  could  be  gathered.  Just  as  might 
be  expected,  the  most  savage  brutalities  were  practised  on 
either  side.  Besides  securing  the  store  of  corn,  which  was 
the  main  object  of  the  incursion,  the  Nubians  were  on  the 
look-out  for  a  capture  of  female  slaves,  which  they  claimed 
as  their  special  perquisite.  The  Niam-niam  on  their  part 
followed  the  example  and  did  some  private  kidnapping  on 
their  own  account ;  the  females  that  they  entrapped  they 
disposed  of  in  the  following  way :  the  youngest  were  destined 
for  their  houses,  the  middle-aged  for  their  agriculture,  and 
the  eldest  for  thqir  caldrons  ! 

The  skulls  in  the  Anatomical  Museum  of  Berlin  that  are 
numbered  36,  37,  and  38  might  be  supposed  capable  of 
unfolding  a  deplorable  tale  of  these  depredations.  Some 
natives  brought  them  to  me  fresh  boiled,  only  a  few  days 
after  the  raid  had  been  perpetrated  ;  they  had  heard  from 


MOHAMMEDAN  CONVERSION.  223 

the  Monbuttoo  that  I  was  accustomed  to  give  rings  of  coppei- 
in  exchange  for  skulls,  and  as  I  was  not  able  to  bring  the 
poor  fellows  to  life  again  I  saw  no  reason  why  I  should  not 
purchase  their  remains  in  the  interests  of  science.  Often  I 
reproached  the  Nubians  of  my  retinue  with  allowing  such 
abuses  to  go  on  before  theu'  eyes,  and  under  the  sanction  of 
the  flag  bearing  the  insignia  of  the  Holy  Prophet ;  but  just  as 
often  I  received  the  answer  that  the  Faithful  were  incom- 
petent to  change  anything,  but  must  submit  to  the  will  of 
God  ;  it  was  impressed  upon  me  that  the  Niam-niam  were 
heathen,  and  that  if  the  heathen  liked  to  eat  each  other  up, 
it  was  no  concern  of  theirs ;  they  had  no  right  to  be  law- 
givers or  teachers  to  cannibals. 

I  had  repeated  opportunities  of  observing  that  the  ivory- 
expeditions  of  the  Khartoomers,  although  actuated  by  a 
certain  spirit  of  enterprise,  did  not  at  all  contribute  to  any 
propagation  of  Islamism.  Negro  nations  once  converted  to 
Mohammedanism  are  no  longer  considered  as  slaves,  but  are 
esteemed  as  brothers.  For  this  reason  it  was  inexplicable  to 
me  how  Islamism  had  spread  so  far  in  other  parts  of  Central 
Africa ;  for  although,  on  the  one  hand,  Islamism  is  a  faith 
that  puts  a  pressure  upon  its  converts  by  compelling  them 
to  submit  to  its  external  prescriptions,  such  as  circumcision  ; 
yet,  on  the  other  hand,  the  very  conforming  to  the  prescrip- 
tions exempts  them  for  ever  from  all  oppression  :  thus  I 
could  not  understand  why  in  other  parts  of  the  continent 
the  more  powerful  party  had  not  maintained  its  material 
interests  by  displaying  the  same  indifference  as  was  shown 
by  the  Mohammedans  in  the  countries  through  which  I 
travelled. 

Some  days  after  the  raid  on  the  Babuckur  I  was  witness 
of  a  scene  that  can  never  be  erased  from  my  memory. 
During  one  of  my  rambles  I  found  myself  in  one  of  the 
native  farmsteads ;  before  the  door  of  the  first  hut  I  came  to, 
an  old  woman,  was  sitting  surrounded  by  a  group  of  boys  and 


•224  THE  HEART  OF  AFKICA. 

girls,  all  busily  employed  in  cutting  up  gourds  and  preparing 
them  for  eating ;  at  the  door  of  the  opposite  hut  a  man  was 
sitting  composedly  playing  upon  his  mandolin.  Midway 
between  the  two  huts  a  mat  was  outspread ;  upon  this  mat, 
exposed  to  the  full  glare  of  the  noon-day  sun,  feebly  gasping, 
lay  a  new-born  infant :  I  doubt  whether  it  was  more  than  a 
day  old.  In  answer  to  my  inquiries  I  learnt  that  the  child 
was  the  offspring  of  one  of  the  slaves  who  had  been  captured 
in  the  late  raid,  and  who  had  now  been  driven  off  to  a  distant 
quarter,  compelled  to  leave  her  infant  behind,  because  its 
nurture  would  interfere  with  her  properly  fulfilling  her 
domestic  duties.  The  ill-fated  little  creature,  doomed  to  so 
transient  an  existence,  was  destined  to  form  a  dainty  dish; 
and  the  savage  group  was  calmly  engaged  in  their  ordinary 
occupations  until  the  poor  little  thing  should  have  breathed 
its  last  and  be  ready  to  be  consigned  to  the  seething  caldron ! 
I  profess  that  for  a  moment  I  was  furious.  I  felt  ready  to 
shoot  the  old  hag  who  sat  by  without  displaying  a  particle 
of  pity  or  concern.  I  was  prompted  to  do  something  rash  to 
give  vent  to  my  sensation  of  abhorrence ;  but  I  was  swayed 
by  the  protestations  of  the  Nubians  ringing  in  my  ears  that 
they  were  powerless  in  the  matter,  and  that  they  had  not 
come  to  be  lawgivers  to  the  Niam-niam.  I  felt  that  I  was 
as  helpless  as  they  were,  and  that  it  would  be  folly  for  me 
to  forget  how  dependent  I  was  upon  them.  What  influence, 
I  was  constrained  to  ask,  could  my  interference  have  exer- 
cised, what  could  any  exhibition  of  my  disgust  and  indigna- 
tion avail  to  check  the  bias  of  an  entire  nation  ?  Missionaries 
in  their  enthusiasm,  might  find  a  fruitful  field  for  their  labours, 
but  they  must  be  very  self-denying  and  very  courageous. 

The  departure  of  the  caravan  for  the  north  was  delayed 
for  several  days  in  expectation  of  the  return  of  the  corps 
that  had  been  sent  to  the  west  with  Ghattas's  company,  but 
as  no  tidings  of  it  were  forthcoming  we  determined,  without 
further  procrastination,  to  proceed  upon  our  way. 


THE  KIVER  HOO.  225 

Shut  out  from  all  prospect  of  this  year  making  any  farther 
progress  to  the  south,  and  debarred  from  the  hope  of  accom- 
plishing any  fresh  explorations,  I  own  that  I  began  to  long 
for  the  flesh-pots  of  Egypt ;  I  confess  that  the  stores  that 
were  on  their  way  from  Khartoom  to  await  me  in  my  old 
quarters  at  the  Seriba  in  Bongoland  had  a  wondrous  fasci- 
nation to  my  eager  imagination.  I  was  also  now  looking 
forward  that  I  might  make  several  excursions  during  the 
return  journey,  from  which  I  was  sanguine  that  I  might  not 
only  make  fresh  botanical  discoveries,  but  might  enlarge  my 
general  knowledge  of  the  country. 

Our  first  night-camp  was  made  on  the  northern  frontier  of 
Aboo  Sammat's  territory,  on  the  banks  of  a  brook  near  the 
hamlets  of  Kulenjo.  Until  we  reached  the  Hoo  we  observed 
no  alteration  in  the  condition  of  the  brooks ;  but  the  galleries 
which  I  was  now  traversing  for  the  last  time  seemed  in 
bidding  me  farewell  to  have  dented  their  most  festal  cover- 
ing,  being  resplendent  with  the  luxuriant  blooms  of  the 
Spathadese,  one  of  the  most  imposing  representatives  of 
tlie  African  flora.  The  waters  of  the  Hoo  had  risen  to  no 
inconsiderable  degree,  and  they  had  so  much  increased  in 
breadth  that  they  filled  the  whole  of  the  level  bed,  which 
was  35  feet  in  width.  The  current  flowed  at  the  rate  of 
150  feet  a  minute,  the  water  being  nowhere  more  than  3^ 
feet  deep.  Our  second  night-camp  was  pitched  half-way 
between  the  Hoo  and  the  Sway,  at  a  spot  where  the  bush- 
forest,  was  densest  and  most  luxuriant. 

The  advancing  season  brought  several  changes  in  onr 
mode  of  living.  I  had  become  so  far  initiated  into  African 
habits,  that  I  now  very  much  preferred  a  grass  hut  to  a  tent. 
I  was  moreover  getting  somewhat  out  of  patience  with  the 
ever-recurring  necessity  of  holding  up  the  tent-pole  with  all 
my  strength  during  the  storms  of  night,  whilst  I  roused  hal  f 
the  camp  with  my  shouts  for  assistance.  At  the  height  of 
the  rainy  season  the  weather,  by  a  beneficent  arrangement  of 


22G  THE  HEART  OF  AFRICA. 

Nature,    fortunately    follows   certain    rules   from    which    it 
deviates  very  exceptionally ;  the  first  few  hours  of  the  morn- 
ing always  decided  the  programme  for  the  day ;  when  once 
the  sky  had  cleared,  we  knew  that  we  might  resume  our 
march  in  perfect  confidence,  and  I  had  the  satisfaction  of 
feeling  that  my  papers  and  herbarium  were  in  no  danger  of 
being  spoilt  by  damp,  and  my  companions  had  the  same 
security  for  the  preservation  of  their  powder  and  provisions. 
Towards  five  in  the  afternoon,  when  the  sun  began  to  sink, 
and  the  distant  thunder  gave  warning  of  the  renewing  of  the 
storm,  we  made  a  halt,  and  directed  our  best  attention  to 
prepare  our  nightly  lodging  in  the  wilderness.    The  baggage 
was  first  piled  together  and  protected  by  the  waterproofs, 
and  as  soon  as  this  was  efiected,  a  number  of  knives  and 
hatchets  were  produced  and  distributed  among  the  "builders." 
Off  they  were  sent  with  all  despatch.     "  Now,  you  fellows, 
quick   to   your   work.     Four   of  you,"   I  should   order  my 
servants,  "  must  be  brisk,  and  get  together  the  grass.     You 
two   must  hack  me  down  the  branches,  long  and  strong, 
and  be  sharp  about  it.     No  shirking  now.     And  you  have  to 
get  the  bast.     Quick,  away !  and  quick  back  ! "     And  with 
this  hurrying  and  drivipg  the  work  was  soon  done.      Ten 
minutes,  or  a  little  more,  brought  the  men  back  with  the 
requisite  materials.     The  framework  was  first  erected,  the 
forked   boughs   being  driven  into   the  ground   and   firmly 
fastened  at  the  top  with  ligatures  of  bast ;  meanwhile  the 
grass  was  being  bandaged  into  a  huge  hollow  sheaf,  and  this, 
when  all  was  ready,  was  raised  above  the  structure  and  fitted 
like  a  cap.    Thus,  in  about  half  an  hour,  with  alacrity,  one  of 
these  grass  huts  could  be  reared,  small  indeed,  and  snug  as 
a  nest,  but   nevertheless  perfectly   waterproof;    and   thus 
a  sufficient  shelter  against  the  nightly  rains.     The  storm 
might  rage  and  the  thunder  roll  without,  but  here  the  weary 
traveller,  in  safe  and  reliable  retreat,  might  enjoy  his  well- 
earned  repose  without  misgiving. 


AN  INVASION  OF  ANTS.  227 

By  the  glimmer  of  a  little  oil-lamp  of  my  own  contrivance, 
in  which  I  burnt  some  questionable-looking  grease,  of  whicli 
the  smell  could  not  fail  to  rouse  up  one's  worst  susjiicions 
against  the  natives,  I  would  sit  and  beguile  the  hours  of  the 
evening,  as  best  I  could  by  writing  down  the  experiences  of 
the  day.  The  negroes  had  no  such  protection  :  they  would 
crouch  round  the  camp-iire,  which  would  make  their  faces 
glow  again  with  its  fitful  light,  while  the  rain  would  pelt 
pitilessly  down  upon  their  backs. 

Such  was  the  arrangement  of  our  camp  night  after  night 
throughout  our  return  journey.  But  my  recollections  of  the 
nights  spent  on  the  way  between  the  Hoo  and  the  Sway  are 
altogether  very  unplea,sant. 

The  rain  on  the  following  morning  did  not  cease  so  soon 
as  usual,  and  our  departure  was  somewhat  delayed.  We  were 
all  of  us  intensely  interested  in  keeping  our  own  little  dry 
spot  free  from  the  drenching  force  of  the  rain,  when  all  at 
once  I  found  my  cosy  quarters  invaded  by  a  whole  army  of 
ants.  They  had  succeeded  in  discovering  the  driest  and 
warmest  place  within  a  circuit  of  many  miles,  and  now,  in 
countless  legions,  they  took  up  their  quarters  in  my  palliass, 
which  was  placed  upon  a  lofty  pile  of  leaves  and  grass. 
Their  encroachments  seemed  to  come  from  every  side.  For 
a  long  time  I  was  in  perplexity  what  to  do ;  to  leave  my 
hut  was  impossible,  the  rain  was  falling  almost  in  sheets.  1 
endeavoured  to  protect  myself  with  my  clothes,  but  all  in  vain 
Presently  a  stratagem  suggested  itself  to  my  mind ;  by  a 
happy  thought  I  managed  to  divert  the  ants  from  myself. 
Dragging  some  bundles  of  grass  from  my  bed,  I  threw  them 
down  in  detached  patches  all  over  the  floor,  and  by  way  of 
bait  I  sprinkled  tliem  over  with  the  fragments  of  food  that 
remained  from  the  supper  of  the  previous  night.  The  scheme 
answered  admirably,  and  I  had  the  satisfaction  of  finding  the 
unwelcome  guests  draw  themselves  away  and  give  me  no 
more  personal  annoyance. 


•2'J8  THE  HEART  OF  AFRICA. 

Meauuhile  a  large  portion  of  our  caravan  had  gone  on  in 
advance  to  make  the  necessary  preparations  for  crossing  the 
Sway.  I  did  not  reach  the  banks  myself  until  nearly  noon, 
and  by  that  time  the  people  were  busily  employed  in  convey- 
ing the  baggage  across.  The  aspect  of  the  Sway  was  entirely 
different  to  what  it  had  been  on  the  13th  of  February.  The 
water  had  risen  to  the  very  top  of  the  banks,  and  was  twenty 
feet  deep,  with  a  velocity  of  two  hundred  feet  a  minute. 
Although  the  stream  was  only  thirty-five  feet  wide,  the 
passage  over  it,  in  consequence  of  the  entire  absence  of  tree- 
stems  and  the  small  number  of  bushes  on  the  banks,  offered 
unusual  difficulties.  The  men  who  had  had  experience  in 
these  Niam-niam  expeditions  had  a  method  of  effecting  a 
transit  over  the  river  that  I  think  was  peculiar  to  them- 
selves ;  they  set  all  the  bearers  to  work  to  gather  as  many 
different  kinds  of  bark  as  they  could,  and  to  extract  all  the 
bast  out  of  it,  and  then  to  twist  it  into  long  stout  ropes,  a 
handicraft  in  which  the  negroes  are  very  skilful,  as  in  Bongo- 
land  there  is  an  unfailing  demand  for  cordage  for  hunting- 
snares  and  fishing-nets.  Having  fabricated  their  ropes,  the 
next  thing  was  to  get  them  stretched  across  the  river.  This 
was  effected  by  practised  swimmers,  who  attached  one  end 
firmly  into  the  ground  by  means  of  pegs,  and  swam  over  with 
the  other.  The  arrangement  of  the  ropes  was  such  that  they 
were  suspended  in  double  rows,  one  precisely  underneath  the 
other,  the  upper  rope  being  above  the  stream,  the  lower 
being  some  feet  below  its  surface.  Ten  expert  swimmers 
then  took  their  stand  upon  the  lower  rope,  and  allowed  the 
stream  to  force  their  weight  against  the  upper  rope,  which 
supported  their  chests,  but  permitted  them  to  have  their 
arms  perfectly  free  for  action.  Thus  supported,  in  a  half- 
standing,  half-floating  position,  they  contrived  to  keep  their 
hands  at  liberty,  and  to  pass  the  packages  from  one  to 
another. 

I  confess  that  it  was  with  a  beating  heart  that  I  stood 


EVIL  TIDINGS.  229 

and  watched  my  precious  baggage  thus  handed  along  ovei 
the  perilous  flood ;  but  the  lank,  leau  arms  of  the  Nubians 
were  competent  to  their  work,  ami  everything  was  conveyed 
across  in  safety.  This  business  of  crossing  occupied  several 
hours  of  real  exertion.  The  difficulties  of  the  transit  may  be 
conceived,  when  it  is  remembered  that  three-fourths  of  the 
negroes  are  entirely  ignorant  of  the  art  of  swimming,  and 
that  there  were  elephant's  tusks  being  transported  which 
weighed  not  less  than  180  lbs.,  and  consequently  required 
two  men  to  lift  them. 

We  passed  the  night  near  Marra's  villages,  and  though 
it  was  only  a  league  from  the  river,  it  was  quite  dark  before 
we  entered  our  quarters.  The  residents  had  all  vacated  the 
district,  leaving  their  fields  of  half-ripe  maize  to  the  mercy  of 
the  new  comers ;  although  plunder  was  ostensibly  forbidden, 
it  was  surreptitiously  carried  on  by  our  bearers  to  a  very 
gross  extent  under  cover  of  the  darkness. 

The  whole  of  the  next  day  we  halted  to  recruit  our 
strength.  I  found  my  amusement  in  scouring  the  neigh- 
bourhood in  search  of  game.  Huts  were  dotted  about  here 
and  there,  but  the  country  generally  was  covered  with  such 
a  wonderful  grass  vegetation,  that  any  deviation  from  the 
beaten  paths  would  have  involved  the  wanderer  in  great 
perplexity,  and  only  too  probably  he  would  have  rambled 
about  for  hours  before  he  could  recover  his  ^vay. 

As  the  caravan  was  on  the  point  of  starting  on  the  suc- 
ceeding morning,  and  I  had  just  set  out  at  the  head  of  the 
procession,  we  were  brought  to  a  standstill  by  the  arrival  ol' 
some  messengers  bearing  a  letter  to  Mohammed  from  the 
commander  of  his  corps,  that  had  been  sent  towards  the  west. 
To  judge  from  the  date  of  the  letter,  the  Niam-niam  who 
brought  it  must  have  travelled  at  least  forty  miles,  and 
perhaps  considerably  more,  in  a  day. 

The  letter  contained  evil  tidings.  Ghattas's  agent  and 
Badry,  Aboo  Sammat's  captain,  wrote  in  the  utmost  despair. 


230  THE  HEAllT  OF  AFRICA. 

Three  chieftains  had  combined  to  attack  them  as  they  were 
crossing  a  gallery  on  Malingde's  territory;  thre3  of  their 
number  had  been  slain,  and  out  of  their  ninety-five  soldiers, 
thirty-two  had  been  so  severely  wounded  as  to  be  hors  de 
combat.  They  had  now  been  closely  besieged  for  six  days, 
and  were  with  extreme  difficulty  defending  themselves 
behind  their  abattis;  provisions  were  fast  failing;  and  even 
water  could  only  be  obtained  at  the  risk  of  losing  their  lives. 
Ahmed,  the  other  captain,  had  fallen  at  the  first  outset  of 
the  engagement,  and  his  body  had  not  been  recovered  for 
interment,  but  had  fallen  into  the  hands  of  the  cannibals. 
The  only  means  of  rescuing  the  wounded  soldiers  would  be  to 
carry  them  away  in  litters,  and  this  could  only  be  effected  at 
the  cost  of  abandoning  seventy  loads  of  ivory  that  had  been 
buried  in  a  swamp.  The  letter  concluded  with  an  urgent 
appeal  for  speedy  succour,  and  Mohammed  determined  to 
send  it  without  delay ;  two-thirds  of  his  armed  men  should 
be  despatched  to  the  relief  of  the  sufferers. 

The  selection  of  this  relieving-force  had  to  be  made  at 
once,  and  it  may  be  imagined  that  it  was  no  easy  matter  for 
Mohammed  to  overcome  the  repugnance  of  those  who  had 
no  relative  or  personal  friend  in  jeopardy.  It  was  naturally 
a  bitter  disappointment  to  those  men  who  were  thus  marked 
off  for  this  unexpected  service  to  have  to  renounce  the 
pleasant  prospect  of  the  toils  of  their  expedition  being  so 
near  its  termination,  and  to  be  compelled  to  expose  them- 
selves anew  to  the  dubious  fortune  of  war.  However,  in 
spite  of  remonstrances  and  murmurings,  the  conscription  was 
completed  in  a  very  summary  fashion,  and  it  was  still  early 
when  the  remnant  of  our  party,  with  its  undue  proportion  of 
bearers,  continued  our  northward  march. 

It  was  a  bright  and  lovely  forenoon ;  the  steppe  was 
adorned  with  its  summer  verdure ;  what  had  before  been 
bare  red  rock,  was  now  covered  with  tender  grass,  which 
reminded  one  of  our  own  fields  of  sprouting  corn.    Africa 


CHASE  OF  HARTEBEESTS.  231 

seemed  like  a  universal  playground,  exciting  our  people  to 
sport  and  merriment. 

We  persevered  in  following  our  previous  well-beaten  track. 
The  six  meadow-waters  that  lay  between  Marra  and  the  hill 
of  Gumango  had  increased  but  little  since  we  had  last  seen 
them.  The  lovely  park-like  country,  with  its  numerous 
scattered  bushes,  offered  unusual  facilities  for  the  chase,  and 
small  herds  of  antelopes,  a  long  unwonted  sight,  appeared 
and  as  rapidly  disappeared  in  the  surrounding  landscape. 
Once,  however,  five  hartebeests,  at  a  little  distance  from  our 
road,  made  a  stand,  and  eyed  the  caravan  as  intently  as  if 
tiiey  were  rooted  to  the  spot.  I  took  deliberate  aim  at  the 
breast  of  one  of  them,  and  although  the  whole  five  wheeled 
round  and  galloped  off  into  the  thickets,  I  felt  sure  that  my 
shot  had  taken  effect;  on  running  up  to  the  spot  where  the 
antelopes  had  been  standing,  we  found  enough  blood  to  show 
us  that  one  of  them  had  certainly  been  wounded,  how 
severely  of  course  we  could  not  tell.  The  dogs  that  I  had 
were  of  no  service  for  hunting,  and  had  to  be  kept  along  with 
the  caravan  in  the  care  of  servants  ;  but  notwithstanding  this 
want  of  sporting  dogs,  and  in  spite  of  the  confusion  caused 
by  the  multiplicity  of  tracks,  we  managed,  by  following  the 
spots  of  blood,  to  make  out  the  proper  traces  of  the  wounded 
hartebeest.  As  I  was  approaching  one  of  the  smaller 
thickets,  ^  observed  a  couple  of  kites  making  their  circling 
flight  just  above  the  trees ;  this  was  a  manifest  token  that 
the  wounded  animal  was  not  far  off ;  in  another  few  minutes, 
as  I  entered  the  grove,  I  caught  sight  of  the  yellow  body  of 
the  beast  skulking  painfully  away  from  me  as  best  it  might, 
a  patch  of  blood-stained,  trampled  grass  betraying  the  place 
where  it  had  thrown  itself  down. 

The  arrival  of  the  birds  was  to  me  very  inexplicable :  ten 
minutes  had  hardly  elapsed  since  the  shot  had  been  fired, 
and  yet  here  they  were,  awaiting  their  prey.  Tiie  sportsman 
in  Africa  (and  this  is  especially  the  case  on  bright,  sunny 

Vol.  II.— 17 


232  THE  HEAET  OF  AFRICA. 

days)  has  constant  experiences  of  this  kind.  A  few  minutes 
after  he  has  succeeded  in  bringing  down  his  game  he  may 
see  some  black  dots  in  the  sky,  which  gradually,  as  they 
come  nearer  and  nearer,  will  assume  a  definite  shape  and 
ultimately  develop  themselves  into  groups  of  kites,  vultures, 
or  other  carrion  birds,  ever  ready  to  arrest  their  flight  and 
to  appropriate  to  themselves  whatever  relics  of  his  booty  the 
hunter  may  leave  behind.  It  might  almost  seem,  according 
to  the  fiction  of  the  ancients,  that  the  sky  above  was  divided 
into  several  storeys,  and  that  the  birds  were  ever  ready,  at 
the  sight  of  a  tempting  meal  below,  to  hurry  downwards  from 
their  topmost  region  in  the  sevenfold  heaven. 

This,  however,  is  mere  digression.  I  return  to  my  harte- 
beest.  After  a  considerable  search  we  came  upon  the 
creature  lying  lifeless  in  the  grass.  It  proved  to  be  an 
animal  in  suck,  and  my  Niam-niam  people,  after  the  wild 
hunting-custom  of  the  country,  filled  a  small  gourd-shell 
with  milk  expressed  from  the  udder,  and  mutually  drank  to 
each  other's  courage  and  good  luck.  I  had  not  happened  to 
see  the  fawn  ;  probably  it  had  not  been  with  the  hartebeests 
when  we  first  caught  sight  of  them. 

It  may  be  readily  understood  from  these  details,  that 
without  dogs,  and  over  so  bewildering  a  country,  the  capture 
of  game,  even  after  it  has  been  shot,  is  very  often  a  matter  of 
no  trifling  difliculty.  Moreover,  time  and  distance  have  to 
be  taken  into  consideration.  Our  caravan  was  often  half  a 
league  in  length,  and  it  was  important  not  to  leave  any  gaps 
in  the  procession,  as  nothing  would  be  easier  than  ior  the 
rear  division  to  mistake  the  narrow  path  they  had  to  follow. 
However  fleet  the  huntsman  may  be,  the  antelope  is  fleeter 
still,  and  the  impatience  and  excitement  exhibited  by  the 
sportsman,  hurried  because  he  is  travelling,  have  a  tendency 
to  increase  the  alarm  of  the  animal  of  which  he  is  in  chase, 
and  which  is  already  terrified  by  the  unwonted  sight  of  man. 
On  the  level  steppe,  where  the  grass  grows  to  a  height  of 


A  LUCKY  SHOT.  233 

five  or  six  feet,  the  pursuer  can  only  get  momentary  glances 
of  the  creatures'  horns,  and  all  along  in  his  chase  he  is 
hardly  conscious  of  making  any  more  advance  than  if  he 
were  buffeting  with  the  waves  of  the  sea. 

The  animal  I  had  killed  was  soon  cut  up,  and  I  made  a 
meal  off  its  roasted  liver.  Leaving  some  of  my  people  in 
charge  of  the  carcase,  I  set  out,  designing  to  return  at  once  to 
the  caravan  to  despatch  some  bearers  to  bring  in  the  spoil 
to  the  encampment ;  but  I  missed  my  road,  and,  notwith- 
standing the  help  of  my  compass,  T  lost  an  hour  or  more  in 
wandering  over  the  rugged  paths  of  an  extended  elephant 
haunt.  Coming  to  a  depression  that  was  partially  under 
water  I  saw  several  leucotis  antelopes  turn  off  in  front  of  me, 
and  as  the  water  obstructed  my  farther  progress  I  made 
a  venture  and  fired  my  last  shot  at  a  solitary  buck  that 
was  standing  at  a  distance  of  not  much  less  than  five 
hundred  paces.  The  animal  instantaneously  disappeared, 
and  the  noise  of  the  report  caused  several  others,  in  a  state 
of  affright,  to  scamper  across  the  swamp.  My  Niam-niam 
were  soon  at  the  place  where  the  antelope  seemed  to  have 
fallen  into  the  earth ;  to  my  surprise  they  soon  began  to 
make  signs  of  triumph,  and  I  could  hardly  believe  my  eyes 
when  I  saw  them  dragging  the  victim  along  the  ground.  It 
was  quite  dead  and  the  bullet  was  in  its  neck. 

Wonderful  good  fortune  had  thus,  at  very  slight  cost  to 
myself,  thrown  into  my  hands  an  ample  supply  of  meat,  which 
after  their  recent  deprivations  gave  unbounded  satisfaction 
to  my  people.  But  I  will  not  weary  the  reader  with  further 
details  of  my  hunting  adventures.  Lovers  of  the  chase  and 
admirers  of  good  marksmanship  will  find  a  richer  field  for 
their  entertainment  in  the  record  of  Sir  Samuel  Baker's 
exploits  about  the  Albert  Nyanza,  which  rivals  Herodian's 
description  of  the  sports  and  prowess  of  the  Emperor  Corn- 
modus.  My  own  hunting  experience,  however  interesting  to 
myself,  was  comparatively  on  a  very  limite  1  scale. 


234  THE  HEART  OF  AFRICA. 

Carrying  with  us  the  piece  of  meat  that  was  designed  for 
our  supper,  we  entered  the  camp  just  as  darkness  was  coming 
on.  I  found  the  people  quartered  on  the  slope  of  a  ridge  of 
hills  near  the  frontier  of  Bendo's  district,  a  league  and  a 
half  to  the  south  of  the  residence  of  the  behnky  himself. 
For  half  the  night  I  sat  up  making  extract  of  meat  from  the 
best  parts  of  the  leucotis  ;  a  large  copper  vessel,  originally  a 
spirit-still,  but  now  used  for  preparing  the  pap  for  Moham- 
med's slaves,  was  a  most  serviceable  utensil  for  the  purpose. 
From  about  70  lbs.  of  the  meat,  which  was  very  tender,  I 
obtained  the  unusually  large  proportion  of  2^  lbs.  of  extract 
of  excellent  quality  and  of  the  consistency  of  firm  honey, 
the  whole  produce  being  perfectly  free  from  any  glutinous 
matter.  The  product  was  altogether  superior  to  what  I  had 
obtained  from  the  Monbuttoo  goats,  not  only  being  larger  in 
quantity,  but  infinitely  more  palatable,  thus  demonstrating 
that  the  flesh  of  the  leucotis  justified  the  reputation  for 
flavour  with  which  it  was  generally  credited.  I  had  an 
opportunity  subsequently  of  comparing  it  with  what  I  re- 
ceived amongst  my  fresh  stores  from  Khartoom,  and  am 
satisfied  that  it  was  in  no  way  inferior  to  that  from  Fray 
Bentos.  Only  those  who  like  myself  have  existed  for 
months  together  upon  an  inadequate  and  monotonous  diet, 
or  those  who  on  long  desert  journeys  have  been  limited  to 
farinaceous  food,  can  estimate  the  strengthening  effect 
produced  by  ever  so  small  an  addition  of  this  preparation  to 
other  food  which  is  not  of  itself  sustaining.  Extract  of  meat 
thus  is  not  the  mere  seasoning  which  many  consider  it ;  not 
simply  does  it  give  a  relish,  and  draw  out  nutritious  pro- 
perties from  indifferent  food,  but  it  is  in  itself  a  nutritious 
substance  of  the  highest  rank. 

The  process  of  boiling  the  meat  is  very  long ;  while  it  was 
being  completed  next  morning  I  had  time  to  explore  the 
magnificent  vegetation  of  the  adjacent  hill.  The  wild  vine 
(Vitis   Schimperi)   was    loaded   with   its   ripe   clusters   and 


BENDO.  235 

afforded  me  a  refreshment  to  which  I  had  been  long  un- 
accustomed. These  grapes  were  less  juicy  than  those  that 
grow  upon  the  vine-clad  hills  of  Europe,  and  they  left  a 
somewhat  harsh  sensation  upon  the  palate ;  but  altogether, 
and  especially  in  colour,  they  reminded  me  of  our  own 
growth.  Towards  the  south-east  I  had  a  view  of  the  hills  of 
Babunga,  about  ten  miles  off  on  the  frontier  of  the  Babuckur 
territory. 

All  the  huts  in  Bendo's  mbanga  had  been  lately  rebuilt  in 
a  style  that  displayed  considerable  taste,  the  tops  of  the 
straw-roofs  being  so  much  decorated  that  they  looked  like 
various  specimens  of  ornamental  basket-work.  We  were 
able  to  procure  a  good  stock  of  maize,  which  made  a  welcome 
change  from  the  uniformly  bad  bread  which  we  had  been 
eating  previously  for  so  long.  Bendo  himself  was  quite  a 
character ;  his  singularities  amused  me ;  he  was  a  kind  of 
fine  gentleman,  extremely  particular  about  his  toilette,  and 
would  never  allow  himself  to  be  seen  unless  he  had  been 
carefully  painted  and  adorned  with  his  high-plumed  hat. 

I  did  some  botanising  on  the  hill  of  Gumaugo  and  found 
it  full  of  interest.  We  next  crossed  the  Rye,  and  proceeded 
to  the  adjacent  villages  of  Gumba,  Our  camp  was  scarcely 
pitched  there  when  a  message  was  received  from  jMoham- 
med  instructing  us  to  wait  for  him.  On  returning  to  his 
Seriba  he  had  found  that  all  the  soldiers  for  whose  fate  he 
had  been  concerned,  and  >vhom  he  was  hurrying  off'  to  rescue, 
had  already  arrived  there  safe  and  sound,  having  succeeded 
in  breaking  through  the  enemy  and  in  carrying  off  their 
wounded.  He  was  now  returning  to  us  with  his  full  force. 
Pending  his  arrival  we  remained  in  Gumba's  villages  for  the 
two  succeeding  days. 

He  came  back  at  the  appointed  time,  and  the  recovery  of 
the  parted  friends  caused  great  joy  and  excitement  in  the 
caravan;  innumerable  were  the  questions  asked,  and  no 
accumulation  of  answers  seemed  to  allay  the  curiosity. 


236  THE  HEART  OF  AFRICA. 

My  own  attention  was  very  much  engaged  by  the  accounts 
given  by  Badry,  the  captain  who  had  been  appointed  to  the 
command  of  the  corps  in  the  place  of  Ahmed ;  I  knew  that 
his  word  was  to  be  relied  on,  and  liis  information  was  of 
great  value  to  me  as  throwing  light  upon  the  geography 
of  the  country  about  the  lower  portions  of  rivers,  some  of 
which  I  had  crossed  only  in  their  upper  course  and  some- 
times quite  close  to  their  fountain-heads. 

I  heard  many  details  of  the  conflict  between  Mohammed's 
party  and  the  Niam-niam,  the  leading  incidents  of  which  I 
will  now  proceed  briefly  to  relate. 

It  was  while  they  were  crossing  one  of  the  brooks  over- 
hung with  the  dense  forests  which  now  for  so  long  I  have 
designated  as  galleries  that  the  fatal  attack  took  place ;  the 
consternation  of  the  defenceless  bearers,  and  consequently 
the  confusion  of  the  whole  party,  would  seem  to  have  been 
very  terrible.  The  first  discharge  of  Niam-niam  lances  had 
strewn  the  ground  with  dead  and  wounded,  the  column  of 
the  unfortunate  bearers  furnishing  the  larger  proportion  of 
the  victims.  Previous  to  the  attack  not  a  native  had  been 
seen.  Nothing  could  be  more  crafty  than  their  ambush. 
Some  of  them  had  taken  up  their  position  behind  the  larger 
trees ;  some  had  concealed  themselves  in  the  middle  of  the 
bushes ;  whilst  others,  in  order  to  get  an  aim  from  above,  had 
ensconced  themselves  high  up,  contriving  to  lie  full  length 
upon  the  overhanging  boughs  where  the  network  of  creepers 
concealed  them  from  the  keenest  vision.  Badry's  recital 
brought  vividly  to  my  mind  the  battles  with  the  Indians  in 
the  primeval  forests  of  America,  where  similar  stratagems 
have  been  continually  resorted  to. 

The  soldiers  kept  up  their  fire  with  energetic  vigour ; 
they  are  accustomed  to  carry  a  number  of  cartridges  arranged 
like  a  girdle  right  round  their  waist,  and  having  their  am- 
munition thus  conveniently  at  hand  they  kept  up  their 
discharges  unintermittingly  until  they  had   collected  their 


STANDING  AN  ASSAULT.  237 

wounded;  but  the  bodies  of  those  who  had  been  actually 
killed  all  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  assailants  and  were 
carried  off  without  delay,  all  attempts  at  recovering  them 
being  utterly  unavailing,  because  the  irregularity  of  the 
ground  prevented  any  organised  plan  of  attack. 

The  bearers,  meanwhile,  had  flung  away  their  heavy  loads, 
and  in  wild  flight  had  retreated  to  an  adjacent  hill  that  rose 
above  the  steppe;  liere  they  were  in  a  short  time  joined  by 
the  Nubians,  who  sought  the  eminence  as  commanding  a 
view  whence  they  might  survey  their  position  and  concert 
measures  for  their  future  protection.  Most  of  the  deserted 
ivory,  of  course,  had  become  the  prey  of  the  foe,  but  some  of 
the  Nubians  had  taken  the  precaution  of  burying  the  burdens 
in  a  swamp  within  the  gallery,  under  the  hope  that  they 
might  recover  it  in  the  following  year.  Thus  deprived  of 
their  proper  occupation,  the  bearers  were  at  liberty  to  carry 
the  wounded,  and  a  treaty  was  concluded  with  the  enemy  so 
that  the  party  ventured  to  quit  their  quarters.  The  natives,^ 
however,  were  utterly  treacherous ;  they  were  bent  upon 
the  annihilation  of  the  intruders,  and  so,  reinforced  from  the 
neighbouring  district,  they  made  a  fresh  and  savage  attack. 
In  consequence  of  this  the  Nubians  were  compelled  to 
come  to  a  stand  in  the  open  plain,  and  lost  no  time  in 
collecting  whatever  faggots  they  could  get  to  make  an 
abattis. 

Behind  this  abattis  they  had  to  hold  out  for  three  entire 
days.  The  excited  Niam-niam  persevered  in  harassing  them 
with  unwearied  assaults;  and  as  three  independent  chief- 
tains had  summoned  their  entire  forces  for  the  attack,  the 
combined  action  was  unusually  formidable;  not  until  the 
store  of  lances  and  arrows  was  all  used  up  were  the  furious 
sallies  brought  to  an  end  and  the  Nubians  permitted  to  go 
upon  their  way.  The  enemy,  it  was  said,  displayed  such 
unabated  energy  that  when  all  their  ordinary  lances  had 
been  spent  they  procured  a  supply  of  pointed  sticks,  which 


238  THE  HEART  OF  AFRICA. 

they  proceeded  to  hurl  with  all  their  might  against  the 
Nubian  band ;  it  was,  moreover,  asserted  that  the  quantity 
of  shields  and  lances  was  so  large  that  the  besieged  used  no 
other  fuel  for  their  camp-fires  during  the  entire  period  of 
f,heir  detention.  Besides  the  weapons  that  were  burnt,  the 
negroes  attached  to  the  caravan  brought  away  a  considerable 
number  of  lance-heads,  which  they  had  tied  up  in  bundles  of 
nearly  a  hundred  and  designed  for  trophies  to  decorate  their 
own  huts. 

Having  thus  spoken  of  the  disasters  of  war  that  befell 
Aboo  Sammat's  company,  I  will  proceed  to  give  a  short 
outline  of  the  route  which  they  took,  and  which  lay  to  the 
west  and  south-west  of  the  districts  through  which  I  had 
myself  travelled.  It  may  be  remembered  that  the  corps 
had  been  detached  from  our  caravan  at  Rikkete's  village  on 
the  Atazilly.  It  started  off  in  a  W.S.W.  direction,  which  it 
followed  during  the  greater  part  of  the  journey.  A  march 
of  six  leagues  brought  the  men,  in  the  first  place,  to  the 
village  of  Garia,  one  of  Wando's  brothers,  who,  like  most  of 
the  sons  of  the  wealthy  Bazimbey,  had  after  his  father's 
death,  without  recognising  the  hereditary  claims  of  his  elder 
brother,  set  himself  up  as  an  independent  prince  in  his  own 
district.  From  this  locality  it  was  described  as  "a  good 
day's  march  "  of  six  leagues  to  the  residence  of  Malingde 
or  Malindo.  This  prince  was  the  aforesaid  eldest  son  of 
Bazimbey,  and  had  consequently  a  more  extensive  territory 
than  any  of  his  brothers,  with  whom  he  was  at  that  time 
on  quite  friendly  terms. 

A  morning's  march  of  about  four  leagues  brought  the 
party  onwards  to  one  of  the  other  brothers,  named  MoflS. 
who  held  office  as  a  behnky  in  a  district  under  the  jurisdic- 
tion of  Malingde ;  and  between  two  and  three  leagues  to  the 
west  again  they  found  another  behnky,  also  Malingde's 
brother,  called  Bazia.  Beyond  this  place  was  a  wide  tract 
of  wilderness  separating  Malingde's  territory  from  that  of 


INDIMMA.  239 

Indimma.  Shortly  after  reaching  Bazia's  residence  they 
had  to  cross  a  river,  which  they  said  was  as  large  as  the 
Kohl  at  Awoory,  and  joined  the  Mbrwole  on  its  right-hand 
side :  three  other  smaller  streams  flowed  through  this 
wilderness,  all  of  them  aflHuents  of  the  Mbrwole.  As  it  took 
them  four  days  and  a  half  to  travel  from  Bazia  to  the 
residence  of  Indimma,  the  distance  may  probably  be  esti- 
mated at  between  twenty  and  thirty  leagues. 

Indimma  was  a  son  of  Keefa,  and  one  of  the  most  influen- 
tial Niam-niam  princes  of  his  time.  He  had  taken  up  his 
abode  on  the  summit  of  a  lofty  and  isolated  mass  of  granite 
or  gneiss,  which,  according  to  some  accounts,  was  as  high  as 
the  hills  near  Awoory  (relatively  300  feet);  or,  according  to 
others,  it  stood  even  higher  than  the  Wohba  mountain  near 
Deraggo  (relatively  500  feet). 

At  the  top  of  this  eminence  was  an  extensive  plateau,  laid 
out  in  cultivated  tracts ;  in  the  centre,  like  a  small  town, 
stood  the  residence  of  the  king,  embracing,  as  my  informants 
unanimously  declared,  more  than  a  thousand  houses. 

The  mountain  must  extend  several  miles,  both  in  length 
and  breadth,  for  the  tedious  ascent  took  many  windings, 
and  compelled  the  caravan  to  make  repeated  halts.  At 
no  great  distance  to  the  south  was  another  smaller  hill 
and  looking  towards  the  west  they  had  a  view  of  nume- 
rous lofty  ranges,  amongst  which  was  that  of  the  Gangara 
mountains. 

The  population  of  Indimma's  territory  is  a  mixed  race, 
consisting  partly  of  true  Zandey-Niam-iiiam  and  partly  of 
A-Madi,  a  tribe  nearly  related  to  the  A-Banga,  and  corre- 
sponding in  general  features  with  the  Monbuttoo. 

After  leaving  Indimma,  the  caravan  commenced  the  four 
days'  march  which  would  carry  them  on  to  Kanna,  who 
bore  the  F>urname  of  Bendy,  the  most  powerful  of  all  the 
reigning  sons  of  Keefa.  In  the  middle  of  the  first  day  they 
had  to  cross  a  large  river,  which  the  travellers  identified  with 


240  THE  HEART  OF  AFRICA. 

Wando's  river,  the  i\Ibr\vole,  and  compared  for  magnitude 
with  the  Blue  NiLi  at  Khartoom  ;  they  all  persisted  in  saying 
that  it  was  not  the  river  that  they  had  to  cross  in  canoes  on 
their  way  to  Mnnza,  and  therefore  not  the  Welle.  They  had 
still  to  march  on  for  three  days  before  reaching  Kanna,  so 
that  there  was  no  doubt  that  the  entire  distance  between  him 
and  Indimma  could  not  be  much  under  thirty  leagues.  I 
asked  one  of  Kanna's  Niam-niam,  who  had  attached  himself  to 
the  party  on  their  wanderings,  how  far  it  was  from  Kanna's 
to  Munza's  residence,  and  he  replied  that,  marching  at  the 
Niam-niam  rate  of  eight  or  ten  hours  a  day,  the  journey 
would  occupy  about  five  days ;  the  direction,  he  added,  was 
E.S.E.  and  S.E. ;  and  his  entire  statement  coincided  very  much 
with  what  Abderahman  Aboo  G-uroou  had  told  me  when  he 
affirmed  that  the  journey  with  his  heavily-laden  caravan  had 
required  fifteen  days  to  accomplish ;  this  was  the  same 
length  of  time  that  it  had  taken  us  to  travel  a  distance 
which  I  imagine  is  nearly  the  same,  viz.,  that  from  the 
Nabambisso  to  Munza's  dwelling. 

From  all  I  could  gather,  I  should  conclude  that  the 
arrangements  and  habits  of  Kanna's  court  were  very  similar 
to  those  of  the  Monbuttoo  sovereigns  :  like  them  he  had  his 
great  palatial  halls,  where  he  celebrated  the  national  festivals 
with  dancing  and  music,  and  where  the  nobles  were  assembled 
for  councils  of  state. 

About  four  leagues,  or  half  a  day's  march,  from  Kanna  the 
detachment  had  come  to  the  residence  of  Bakinge,  the  king's 
brother,  who  had  a  limited  district  sj)ecially  assigned  to  him. 
Just  before  reaching  this  spot,  the  caravan  had  been  con- 
veyed across  "  the  great  river  "  that  flows  from  the  land  of 
the  Monbuttoo.  The  river  so  distinguished  was  undoubtedly 
the  Welle.  The  Khartoomers  described  it  as  being  as  wide 
as  the  White  Nile  at  its  mouth;  and  the  Niam-niam  in- 
terpreter, who  accompanied  them,  in  reply  to  my  direct 
inquiry  as  to  the  proper  name  of  the  great  river  of  Kanna, 


THE  MINNESINGER.  241 

informed  me  that  it  was  called  the  Welle  or  Bee-Welle,* 
thus  establishing,  by  a  fresh  confirmation,  its  identity  with 
the  river  of  Munza.  I  was  told  that  in  this  district  it  makes 
a  semicircular  bend.  Close  to  the  spot  where  the  caravan 
crossed  it,  was  the  residence  of  the  king's  brother  and  sub- 
chieftain  named  Mbittima,  and  at  a  short  distance  beyond 
stood  the  abode  of  Zibba,  Kanna's  son,  who  was  governor 
of  an  independent  district.  Before  they  passed  to  the  other 
side  of  the  river,  Aboo  Sammat's  company  had  also  visited 
the  settlement  of  another  brother  of  Kanna,  named  Gendwa, 
which  was  about  two  days'  journey  to  the  north-\A  est  of  the 
king's  dominions. 

Having  thus  related  the  main  particulars  of  the  route  of 
the  detached  party  during  their  absence,  I  will  return  to  the 
narrative  of  our  own  proceedings. 

Our  old  friend  the  "minnesinger  "  paid  us  another  visit  in 
our  camp,  and  entertained  us  once  again  with  the  droll 
elaboration  of  his  poetic  faculty;  as  the  theme  on  this 
occasion  upon  which  to  exercise  his  epic  muse,  he  chose  the 
heroic  deeds  of  Mohammed,  which  he  chanted  out  with 
characteristic  energy. 

As  I  was  quite  aware  that  in  a  few  days  more  I  should 
have  taken  my  leave,  perhaps  for  ever,  of  the  Niam-niam 
lands,  I  was  particularly  anxious  to  secure  a  dog  of  the 
unique  race  belonging  to  the  country,  that  I  might  exhibit 
it  as  a  novelty  on  my  return  to  Europe.  For  a  couple  of 
copper  rings  I  made  purchase  of  a  specimen  of  the  breed, 
which  was  quite  satisfactory,  as  the  creature  was  not  only 
very  intelligent,  but  attached  itself  to  me  in  a  very  few  days. 
My  hope,  however,  of  introducing  the  breed  into  Europe 
was  doomed  to  be  frustrated ;  by  dint  of  watchfulness,  and  at 
the  cost  of  no  little  inconvenience,  I  succeeded  in  conveying 


*  "Bee,"  like  *'ba,"  in  many  of  the  dialects  of  Central  Africa,  means 
"river."  It  ■was  an  appellation  that  I  was  surx>rised  to  find  in  use  here,  and 
was  a  confirmation  of  the  supposed  connection  of  these  lands  witli  Baghirmy. 


242  THE  HEART  OF  AFRICA. 

the  animal  safely  as  far  as  Alexandria ;  but  while  I  was 
staying  there,  it  leapt  from  the  hotel  window,  two  storeys  high, 
down  into  the  street,  and  was  killed  on  the  spot.  Whoever 
has  experienced  the  bother  of  dragging  a  dog  across  the 
desert  on  the  back  of  a  camel,  or  of  rescuing  it  times  out  of 
number  from  being  drowned  during  the  passage  of  a  Nile- 
boat,  will  readily  sympathise  with  the  annoyance  I  felt  at 
the  waste  of  all  my  pains. 

As  our  train  proceeded  along  the  hilly  region  between 
Gumba  and  Nganye,  it  was  easy  to  make  the  observation 
that  there  was  no  appreciable  difference  in  its  magnitude 
compared  with  what  it  had  been  when  we  traversed  the 
same  district  more  than  four  months  previously.  A  consider- 
able number  of  the  wounded  were  still  carried  on  litters,  and 
formed  a  new  feature  in  the  procession.  One  poor  fellow  had 
had  the  entire  sole  of  his  foot  literally  peeled  off  by  a  lance. 
Ali,  the  leader  of  Ghattas's  company,  had  also  two  severe 
wounds,  one  on  the  neck,  the  other  on  the  thigh ;  but 
although  both  of .  them  were  still  open,  the  sturdy  negro 
made  light  of  his  trouble,  marched  on  merrily  enough, 
chattering  to  his  companions  every  now  and  then  according 
to  the  current  phraseology  of  the  Nubians,  enforcing  his 
assertions  by  the  ejaculation,  "  Wollahi !  wollahi ! "  (by 
Allah !  by  Allah ! ")  These  people  are  far  greater  heroes 
in  enduring  pain  than  would  be  expected  from  their 
pusillanimity  in  battle. 

With  Nganye  the  Nubians  spent  a  day  of  riot  and 
revelry  in  honour  of  the  African  Gambrinus.  The  chieftain 
had  already  prepared  for  their  entertainment,  and  had  sent 
to  Mohammed's  hut  an  enormous  vase  of  beer,  the  vessel 
being  a  fine  specimen  of  native  pottery,  a  masterpiece  in  its 
way,  and  so  heavy  when  it  was  full  that  it  required  two  men 
to  lift  it.  I  spent  the  day  in  a  hunting  excursion.  I 
started  towards  the  west,  and  succeeded  in  killing  two  small 
antelopes  and  ui  bagging  a  large  number  of  guinea-fowl  that, 


A  SUSPENSION  BKIDGE.  243 

in  a  liberal  inood,  I  disti  ibuted  amongst  my  companions ; 
the  chieftain  himself,  when  he  visited  me  on  the  following 
day,  enjoyed  a  meal  oif  the  tender  flesh  of  the  birds,  which 
during  the  rainy  season  is  particularly  rich  and  savoury. 

During  my  stay  with  Nganye,  I  had  incidentally  a  further 
demonstration  of  what  is  the  limited  measure  of  authority 
really  possessed  by  the  Niam-niam  princes.  I  had  discarded, 
as  I  have  said,  the  use  of  my  tent :  in  return  for  its  torn 
covering,  which,  with  the  lining,  would  have  furnished  material 
for  more  than  a  hundred  aprons,  Nganye  had  covenanted  to 
supply  me  with  twenty  baskets  of  eleusine  corn,  which  would 
be  required  by  my  people  during  their  coming  march  across 
the  desert ;  but  in  spite  of  the  number  of  his  wives  and  slaves, 
who  I  should  have  imagined  would  very  soon  have  got 
together  without  difficulty  whatever  he  directed,  he  was  only 
able  to  furnish  me  with  half  the  stipulated  quantity.  This 
meagre  species  of  grain  was  all  the  corn-provision  that  could 
be  obtained,  and  very  thankful  we  were  that  we  could  get 
even  that. 

Before  leaving  his  Seriba,  Mohammed  had  sent  a  message 
to  Nganye  to  warn  him  of  the  advance  of  the  caravan,  so 
that  he  might  have  sufficient  time  for  the  preparation  of  the 
bridge  by  which  it  could  cross  the  Tondy.  This  work  was 
executed  without  delay.  A  suspension  bridge  of  a  very 
curious  and  original  construction  had  been  thrown  across  the 
rushing  waters.  Some  of  the  strongest  trees  on  each  bank 
had  been  chosen  for  supports,  and  the  bridge  consisted 
simply  of  strong  ropes  attached  to  them  with  some  planks 
or  poles  laid  upon  as  cross-bars.  This  aerial  pathway,  as 
might  be  expected,  oscillated  like  a  swing ;  but  dangerous  as 
it  was,  it  permitted  a  passage  by  carefully  crawling  from  one 
cross-piece  to  the  next. 

The  march  from  Nganye's  residence  to  the  river  led 
through  the  marvellous  grass-thickets  which  I  have  already 
described.     The  grass  vvas  now  shooting  up  afresh  in  all  its 


244  THE  HEART  OF  AFRICA. 

wild  luxuriance.  The  season  for  the  great  elephant-hunts 
was  at  an  end,  and  Mohammed  was  well  satisfied  with  the 
quantity  of  ivory  his  friend  had  secured.  He  told  me  that 
Nganye,  although  he  ruled  over  a  district  that  was  smaller 
in  extent  (though  it  contained  nearly  as  many  hunting- 
grounds  as  that  of  Munza),  had  furnished  him  with  a  much 
larger  supply  of  ivory  than  the  powerful  Monbuttoo  king. 

It  was  near  the  river,  in  some  huts  newly-built  in  Peneeo's 
district,  that  we  passed  our  last  night  in  the  Xiam-niam 
country.  A  wide  tract  of  wilderness  had  been  lately  rooted 
up  in  order  to  acquire  fresh  arable  land  against  the  time 
when  the  soil  already  in  cultivation  should  be  exhausted. 
In  these  places  it  is  wonderful  to  see  how  the  masses  of 
shrubs  that  have  been  oppressed  by  the  exuberant  growth 
of  the  trees,  sprout  out  \nih  renewed  vigour :  free,  as  it  were, 
from  a  long  restraint,  and  reanimated  by  an  open  sky,  these 
step-children  of  the  sylvan  flora  seem  to  overwhelm  the 
wanderer  with  their  beauteous  bounty. 

On  the  24th  of  June  we  reached  the  Tondy  and  its  hang- 
ing bridge.  To  convey  the  baggage  across  this  tottering 
erection  was  the  work  of  nearly  an  entire  day.  The  place 
of  our  present  transit  was  four  miles  to  the  east  of  the  spot 
at  which  we  had  crossed  on  our  outward  journey;  it  had 
been  chosen  higher  up  the  river  for  several  reasons,  not  only 
because  the  stream  was  narrower  and  the  banks  were  higher, 
but  principally  because  the  trees  were  of  a  larger,  more 
substantial  growth,  better  adapted  for  the  purpose  of  being 
converted  into  piers  for  the  suspended  ropes  which  formed 
the  bridge.  The  river  was  here  sixty  feet  wide,  but  near  the 
banks  it  was  so  full  of  fallen  trees  and  bushes,  of  which 
the  boughs  projected  as  though  growing  in  the  water,  that 
the  width  of  the  stream  was  practically  diminished  one-half. 
The  velocity  of  the  current  was  about  115  feet  a  minute,  the 
depth  nowhere  being  less  than  10  feet. 

The  materials  of  the  suspension-bridge  consisted   exclu- 


HIGH  IN  MID-AIR.  245 

sively  of  branches  of  the  wild  vine  intertwined  with  thick 
elastic  ropes  of  unusual  strength.  The  French  traveller 
d'Abbadie  noticed  a  similar  stratagem  for  crossing  rivers 
on  his  tour  to  Enarea,  and  bridges  improvised  very  much 
in  the  same  manner  are  constructed  from  creeping  plants 
in  South  America.  In  order  to  get  the  ropes  raised  to  a 
sufficient  height,  a  regular  scaffolding  of  fallen  stems  has 
to  be  erected  on  either  side  of  the  river,  by  means  of  which 
the  festoons  of  cords  are  raised  to  a  proper  altitude.  The 
clambering  from  cross-piece  to  cross-piece  upon  this  unstable 
structure,  poised  in  mid-air,  seemed  to  require  little  less 
than  the  agility  of  an  orang-outang ;  while  the  very  con- 
sciousness of  the  insecurity  of  the  support  was  enough  to 
make  the  passenger  lose  his  composure,  even  though  he  were 
free  from  giddiness  and  already  an  adept  in  tlie  gymnastic 
art. 

Vol.  II.— 18 


CHAPTEE    XIX. 

Division  of  the  caravan.  Trip  to  the  east.  African  elk.  Bamboo-forests. 
Seriba  Mbomo  on  the  Lehssy.  Abundance  of  corn.  Route  between 
Kuddoo  and  Mbomo.  Maize -culture.  Harness-bushbock.  Leopard  carried 
in  triumph.  Leopards  and  panthers.  The  Babuckur.  Lips  of  the  Ba- 
buckuT  women.  Surprised  by  buffaloes.  Accident  in  crossing  the 
Lehssy.  Tracts  of  wilderness.  Buffaloes  in  the  bush.  The  Mashirr  hills. 
Tamarinds  again.  Wild  dates.  Tikkitikki  and  the  cows.  The  Viceroy's 
scheme.  Hunger  on  the  march.  Passage  of  the  Tondy.  Suggestion  for  a 
ferry.  Prosperity  of  G-hattas's  establishments.  Arrival  of  expected  stores. 
A  dream  realised.  Trip  to  Kurkur.  Hyaena  dogs.  Dislike  of  the 
Nubians  to  pure  water.  Two  soldiers  killed  by  Dinka.  Attempt  to  rear 
an  elephant.  My  menagerie.  Accident  from  an  arrow.  Cattle  plagues. 
Meteorology.  Trip  to  the  Dyoor.  Gyabir's  delusion.  Bad  new.«  of 
Mohammed.     Preparations  for  a  second  Niam-niam  journey. 

The  day  was  far  advanced  when,  after  crossing  the  Tondy, 
we  turned  towards  the  left,  and  quitted  the  thickets  in  order 
that  we  might  find  an  open  grass  plot  sufiSciently  extensive 
to  accommodate  our  caravan.  The  separate  detachments 
were  all  gathered  together,  and  then  divided  into  two  parties, 
as  before  returning  to  Sabby  Mohammed  had  resolved  to 
make  an  excursion  eastwards  as  far  as  the  borders  of  his 
Alittoo  territory,  so  that  he  might  fetch  away  what  ivory 
he  had  in  store  there.  The  greater  part  of  the  bearers  and 
soldiers  were  sent  on  direct  to  Sabby,  and  I  arranged  for  my 
own  bearers,  under  the  conduct  of  my  servant  Osman  Aboo 
Bekr,  to  accompany  them,  whilst  for  myself  I  reserved  just 
as  much  baggage  as  was  necessary,  and  joined  the  party 
that  was  proceeding  to  the  east.  It  chanced  that  Ghattas's 
corps  was  taking  the  same   route,  and  as  it   led  through 


ELANDS.  247 

districts  which  were  well  supplied  with  corn,  we  all  marched 
in  company. 

After  subduing  the  Mittoo  who  were  resident  close  to 
Nganye's  territory,  Mohammed  Aboo  Sammat,  in  the  pre- 
vious February,  had  founded  a  Seriba  on  the  Upper  Lehssy, 
at  no  great  distance  from  the  villages  of  Uringama,  one  of 
Nganye's  behnkys.  On  account  of  its  singular  fertility  the 
district  was  a  very  favourite  station  for  the  various  Eohl- 
companies  on  their  way  to  and  from  the  Niam-niam  lands, 
and  the  sagacious  Kenoosian,  well  aware  of  the  advantages 
afforded  by  their  frequent  visits,  and  knovving,  moreover, 
how  numerous  elephants  were  in  the  surrounding  regions, 
had  lost  no  time  in  making  a  settlement  in  the  locality. 
The  name  of  the  local  overseer  of  the  Mittoo  people  was 
Mbomo.  As  the  owners  of  the  land  were  mutually  satisfied 
with  each  other  and  on  the  best  of  terms,  the  soldiers  of  the 
Seriba  lived  on  the  most  amicable  footing  with  the  neigh- 
bouring Niam-niam.  The  Seriba  Mbomo  was  about  twenty- 
one  miles  to  the  E.S.E.  of  the  spot  where  we  crossed  the 
Tondy,  the  road  by  which  we  travelled  lying  almost  in  a 
straight  line  in  that  direction. 

Soon  after  starting,  just  as  we  re-entered  the  obscurity  of 
the  forest,  the  men  in  the  van  of  the  procession  made  signs 
that  there  was  something  stirring  amongst  the  bushes.  We 
came  to  a  halt,  and  hurrying  to  the  front  as  stealthily  as  I 
could,  I  made  out  the  forms  of  some  light-coloured  animals 
that  were  lurking  in  the  shadows  of  the  underwood.  They 
turned  out  to  be  five  splendid  elands.  They  appeared  not 
to  have  noticed  oUr  approach,  and  grazed  on,  as  peacefully  as 
oxen,  under  a  large  tree  just  in  front  of  us.  Simultaneously 
one  of  the  blacks  and  myself  fired  at  the  foremost  buck  that 
chanced  to  be  standing  full  broadside  in  our  face.  The 
startled  animals  made  a  bound,  and  put  their  running  powers 
to  the  test,  their  short  weak  legs  carrying  their  ponderous 
bodies  at  full  gallop  across  our  path.     All  at  once  a  crashing 


248  THE  HEART  OF  AFRICA. 

noise  and  a  heavy  fall;  the   wounded  victim  was  ours:  a 
good  supper  was  provided  for  our  caravan. 

This  antelope  {A.  oreas)  is  the  largest  and  tallest  of  all 
the  African  species,  occasionally  measuring  six  feet  high 
at  the  withers ;  it  appears  to  be  common  to  the  entire  con- 
tinent, and  perhaps  does  not  fail  in  any  equatorial  region 
whatever.  It  is  probable  that  the  imposing  animal  owes  its 
name  of  "  eland  "  to  the  imagination  of  some  well-read  Boer, 
to  whom  it  appeared  like  the  mythical  creature  of  his  fables 
and  heroic  songs ;  for  only  as  such  could  the  elk  have  been 
known  to  the  worthy  Dutch  colonists.  But  however  little, 
as  far  as  regards  either  the  colour  of  its  coat  or  the  shape 
of  its  horns,  the  oreas  may  have  in  common  with  the  elk, 
still  I  must  confess  that  by  its  size  it  could  not  do  otherwise 
than  remind  me  of  the  stately  game  of  my  Livonian  home ; 
and  the  shaggy  hair  hanging  in  full  crop  from  the  neck,  the 
bushy  bristles  on  the  forehead,  and  above  all  the  thick  black 
mane  upon  the  withers,  all  combined  to  increase  the  resem- 
blance. Far  more  striking,  however,  is  the  analogy  of  this 
animal  with  the  zebu-races  of  Africa,  which  exhibit  many 
points  that  are  common  to  the  whole  antelope  type.  The 
short  legs,  the  elevated  round  body,  the  long  hanging  dew- 
lap, the  hump-shaped  withers,  and  the  light  bay  colour  of  the 
skin  are  characteristics  of  this  race  that  justify  a  comparison 
of  the  eland  with  them  far  more  than  with  the  elk. 

In  external  appearance  this  African  elk  exhibits  varieties 
as  great  as  the  hartebeest  and  other  common  species  of 
antelopes,  and  on  this  account  it  seems  to  claim  some 
detailed  notice.  In  zoological  gardens  it  is  very  rare  to 
find  two  individual  examples  exactly  alike,  and  the  greatest 
diversity  is  observable  in  the  shape  of  the  horns ;  as  instances 
of  this,  I  may  refer  to  the  representation  here  introduced 
(jf  two  pairs  of  horns  which  I  have  selected  from  my  col- 
lection, and  which  may  be  taken  as  examples  of  the  two 
most  extreme  forms  that  came   under   my  notice.      They 


HORNS  OF  THE  ELAND.  249 

are  about  a  yard  in  length,  the  pair  that  is  more  divergent 
making  only  one  spiral  turn,  while  the  other  makes  a  turn 


Horns  of  Ceiitial  African  Eland. 


and  a  half.  All  the  elands  that  I  saw  had  extremely  short 
sleek  hair  of  a  bright  yellow  tan  colour  verging  on  the 
flanks  to  a  light  bay ;  the  mane  was  black  and  erect,  being 
about  three  inches  long.  In  every  district  through  whicli 
I  travelled  I  observed  their  skin  to  be  always  marked  in 
well-defined  stripes,  which  are  not,  as  some  travellers  have 
supposed,  to  be  taken  as  indications  of  the  youth  of  the 
animal :  I  have  seen  full  grown  specimens  that  were  marked 
on  each  side  of  the  body  with  no  less  than  fifteen  parallel 
stripes,  about  as  wide  as  one's  finger,  of  a  pure  wliite  running 
from  the  black  line  of  the  back  transversely  down  to  the 
middle  of  the  belly,  which  is  often  marked  with  a  large  black 


250  THE  HEART  OF  AFRICA. 

spot.  The  flesh  of  the  eland  ranks  amongst  the  better  kinds 
of  antelope-meat,  and  as  quite  as  palatable  as  that  of  the 
hartebeest. 

We  encamped  about  a  league  from  our  suspension-bridge, 
in  the  midst  of  a  splendid  wilderness,  where,  in  spite  of  the 
torrents  of  rain,  I  passed  a  night  of  entire  comfort  in  my 
warm  nest  of  grass.  A  little  way  to  the  north  of  our  encamp- 
ment there  was  a  small  gneiss  hill  called  Manga.  Before 
halting  for  the  night  we  had  crossed  two  brooks,  which  with 
a  supply  of  water  alike  copious  and  rapid  hastened  on  to 
join  the  river  at  no  great  distance  away ;  the  first  of  these, 
the  Mokungudduly,  rippled  along  over  smooth  blocks  of 
gneiss,  and  was  bordered  by  flower-bespangled  meadows  that, 
stretching  onwards  in  a  forest  glade,  were  watered  besides  by 
countless  springs. 

The  march  of  eight  leagues  that  lay  before  us  would  pass 
through  an  unbroken  forest,  and  required  us  to  make  an 
early  start  upon  the  following  morning ;  accordingly  when 
we  set  out  we  found  the  whole  wood  veiled  in  mist  and  the 
ground  yet  reeking  with  the  heavy  dew.  The  forest  flora 
continually  tempted  me  to  deviate  to  either  side  of  the  path- 
way. My  interest  was  especially  attracted  by  the  splendid 
Encephalartus,  which  seemed  abundant  throughout  the  dis- 
trict. Amongst  other  new  types  of  plants  which  met  my 
notice  was  the  Tithymalus,  one  of  the  cabbage-like  euphorbise, 
the  first  that  I  had  seen  throughout  the  entire  region.  A 
large  variety  of  conspicuous  shrubs,  many  of  them  covered 
with  fine  blossoms,  gave  the  forest  almost  the  aspect  of 
an  artificial  park ;  one  of  the  most  frequent  of  these  (worthy 
indeed  to  be  designated  as  a  tree)  was  the  Parinarium  poly- 
antherum,  remarkable  alike  for  its  great  trusses  of  white 
blossoms  and  for  its  polished  leaves,  which  are  thick  and  yet 
brittle. 

No  less  than  eight  running  streams  had  to  be  crossed 
during  this  march:   the  three  first  joined  the  Tondy,   the 


THE  MOROKOH.  251 

rest  being  tributary  to  the  Lehssy.  The  third  brook  was 
called  the  Baziah,  the  fifth  the  Ulidyatibba ;  succeed- 
ing this,  and  enclosed  by  walls  of  gneiss,  came  the  Lehs- 
sindah. 

About  a  league  to  the  right  of  our  path,  and  to  the  south 
of  the  place  where  we  forded  the  Lehssindah,  rose  several 
gneiss  hills,  of  which  the  two  highest  peaks  were  called 
Ndimoh  and  Bondoh.  Our  route  had  hitherto  been  quite 
level,  and  apparently  at  a  considerable  height  above  the 
valley  of  the  Tondy;  but  it  now  began  to  descend  for  a 
couple  of  leagues  to  the  Morokoh.  This  wide  and  rapid 
stream  flowed  through  a  tray-like  valley  surrounded  by  open 
grass-plains  that  sloped  downwards  on  either  side  to  the 
meanderings  of  the  water.  In  front  of  us,  to  the  east,  the 
whole  country  had  a  gentle  but  regular  elevation,  for  looking 
over  the  right  bank  of  the  Lehssy  we  could  make  out  the 
locality  in  which  the  union  would  have  to  be  sought  of  the 
chain  of  the  Zilei  mountains  in  Mondoo  with  those  that 
extend  between  the  Tondy  and  the  Roah. 

The  scenery  of  the  steep  declivity  towards  the  south-west 
which  we  now  reached  assumed  a  character  very  different  to 
the  park-like  landscape  through  which  we  had  been  passing. 
For  many  miles  the  eye  rested  upon  treeless  steppes  broken 
by  bamboo  jungles  that  seemed  almost  impenetrable,  stand- 
ing in  detached  groups,  their  dark  olive-green  contrasting 
admirably  with  the  bright  hue  of  the  grass,  and  giving  a 
novelty  to  the  general  aspect.  Immediately  beyond  the 
Morokoh  our  path  began  to  rise,  and  led  us  into  the  semi- 
obscurity  of  one  of  these  jungles. 

A  short  time  before  reaching  it,  we  had  left  on  our  right 
a  series  of  hamlets  inhabited  by  the  Niam-niam  belonging 
to  Dippodo's  district :  a  league  further  on  lay  the  villages 
of  Uringama,  on  the  extreme  eastern  frontier  of  Nganye's 
territory,  the  Lehssy  forming  the  boundary  between  the 
Niam-niam  and  the  Mittoo ;  and  a  few  more  leagues  still  in 


252  THE  HEART  OF  AFRICA. 

the  same  direction  would  have  brought  us  to  the   north- 
eastern limits  of  the  Babuckur. 

We  reached  the  Lehssy  shortly  before  sunset.  The 
Seriba  was  built  close  upon  the  opposite  bank,  but  it  was 
so  enclosed  by  the  tall  bamboos  that  towered  high  above 
the  palisade  that  it  was  completely  hidden  from  our  view. 
The  actual  source  of  the  Lehssy  was  at  no  great  distance ; 
the  river  here  was  about  fifteen  feet  wide,  and  four  feet 
deep,  and  flowed  in  a  N.N.W.  direction :  the  water  was  as 
clear  as  crystal,  a  peculiarity  that  appertains  to  all  streams 
that  are  enclosed  by  bamboos,  which  delight  in  a  soil  that 
is  intersected  by  springs.  The  stems  of  the  bamboos  rose 
to  the  height  of  forty  feet ;  slender  and  graceful  they  bent 
themselves  into  an  arch  which  stretched  far  across  the 
stream;  and  as  hardly  anywhere  could  a  more  inviting 
spot  be  found  for  a  siesta,. so  hardly  anywhere  could  water 
be  met  with  more  tempting  for  a  bath  than  that  which 
flowed  limpidly  over  its  gravel  bed. 

On  my  arrival  at  the  Seriba,  I  soon  became  convinced 
that  I  was  in  a  land  where  corn  was  abundant;  the  very 
liberality  of  the  messes  of  sorghum-kissere  that  were  served 
up  to  my  people  was  an  ample  proof  that  there  was  no 
scarcity  here.  In  times  gone  by  I  had  myself  had  an  utter 
disdain  for  this  food  of  the  Soudan,  but  now,  after  so  long  a 
deprivation,  I  relished  it  heartily,  and  thought  it  equal  to 
the  most  delicate  of  rolls.  It  was  no  doubt  heavy  and 
indigestible  enough ;  still  I  could  make  a  good  meal  of  it ; 
only  on  rare  occasions  during  the  Niam-niam  journey  had 
I  tasted  any  sorghum  at  all,  and  when  I  had,  it  had  been 
doled  out  in  infinitesimal  quantities,  but  with  the  fresh 
enjoyment  of  this  luxury  now,  and  with  the  returning 
opportunity  of  getting  some  real  roast  mutton,  our  previous 
privations  were  soon  forgotten. 

The  Seriba  Mbomo  was  ten  leagues  to  the  south  of 
Kuddoo,  on  the  Koah.     Mohammed,  with  a  thoughtful  con- 


NUMEROUS  BROOKS.  25;^. 

sideration  of  my  tastes,  had  taken  means  to  enable  me  to 
fill  up  some  missing  links  in  the  chain  of  our  route.  During 
his  march  in  February  he  had  made  one  of  his  men  who 
could  write  take  down  all  the  infonnation  he  could  get  from 
the  Mittoo  guides ;  and  from  the  same  authority  I  obtained 
verbal  confirmation  of  the  reports  which  I  had  previously 
gathered,  so  that  I  was  able  to  map  out  the  entire  district 
with  what  I  believe  is  tolerable  accuracy. 

In  the  sketch  of  the  route  there  were  enumerated  as  many 
as  twelve  brooks  that  had  to  be  crossed  in  the  interval 
between  Kuddoo  and  Mbomo,  all  supplied  more  or  less 
copiously  with  water,  even  in  the  dry  winter  season. 
Reckoning  from  north  to  south,  the  series  came  in  the 
following  order :  the  Tee,  the  Burri,  the  Malikoo,  the  Mari- 
kohli,  the  Mangawa,  and  the  Wary;  then  came  the  water- 
shed between  the  Lehssy  and  the  Eoah,  marked  by  the 
Gherey-hills,  which  I  afterwards  visited;  then  followed  six 
more  brooks,  the  Kooluma,  the  Magbogba,  the  Makai,  the 
Patioh,  the  Manyinyee,  and  the  Malooka.  Although  all 
these  streams  have  their  origin  quite  close  to  the  left  bank 
of  the  Eoah,  yet  they  take  a  very  devious  course  before  they 
actually  join  it ;  the  last  five,  indeed,  do  not  directly  meet 
the  river,  but  join  another  stream  to  the  west  of  the  route 
called  the  Dongodduloo,  which  unites  itself  with  the  Tee  or 
Tay ;  the  brook  that  flows  past  Ngoly's  village,  and  which  is 
known  to  the  west  of  Sabby  as  the  Koddoh,  being  an 
affluent  of  the  Eoah. 

On  the  watershed,  bamboo-jungles  extend  over  an  area 
of  many  square  miles.  The  species  which  is  thus  found  in 
such  immense  masses  is  the  same  which  is  so  prolific  in  the 
lower  terraces  of  the  Abyssinian  highlands.  In  the  manner 
of  their  growth  these  bamboos  remind  me  of  an  asparagus- 
bed  in  the  summer-time,  hundreds  of  sprouts  start  up  from  a 
single  root,  and  in  graceful  curves  droop  over  towards  the 
ground.      The  habit  of  the  plant  is  altogether  similar  to 


254  THE  HEAKT  OF  AFRICA. 

the  Indian  bamboo,  which  has  lately  been  successfully 
introduced  into  the  pleasure-gardens  of  Cairo.  The  Abys- 
sinian species  does  not  grow  so  thick  in  the  stem  as  the 
Indian,  but  it  attains  as  great  a  height,  often  rising  to  forty 
or  fifty  feet. 

The  well-tilled  soil  of  Mbomo's  district  reminded  me  very 
much  of  the  country  about  Kuraggera ;  the  land  appeared 
well  populated  and  covered  with  extensive  fields  of  maize 
and  sorghum.  The  extent  to  which  maize  was  cultivated 
was  quite  surprising ;  whole  acres  were  planted  with  it, 
and  I  obtained  a  large  supply  of  fresh  ears.  I  had  these 
all  dried  and  ground,  and  thus  provided  myself  with  a  con- 
siderable quantity  of  flour,  enough  to  meet  the  requirements 
of  several  weeks  to  come.  The  maize  is  here  liable  to  the 
same  drawback  as  it  is  elsewhere.  It  is  very  easily  spoiled. 
This  happens  from  two  causes ;  it  has  a  tendency  to  turn 
mouldy,  and  it  is  very  subject  to  the  gnawings  of  worms ; 
the  meal  also  ferments  sooner  than  any  other  species  of 
grain.  The  means  adopted  by  the  natives  to  keep  it  during 
the  winter  is  simply  to  tie  the  ears  in  great  sheaves  and  to 
hang  them  up  on  some  detached  trees,  where  they  can  have 
plenty  of  air,  and  yet  be  out  of  the  reach  of  the  noxious 
vermin. 

One  of  the  best  productions  of  the  country  is  the  bean 
(Phasseolus  limatus),  the  same  that  is  so  much  cultivated  by 
the  Mittoo ;  it  is  one  of  the  most  palatable  species  with 
which  I  am  acquainted ;  its  pods,  that  are  short,  broad,  and 
crescent-shaped,  never  contain  more  than  two  large  beans. 

Although  the  settlement  had  been  so  recently  established, 
Mohammed  was  very  pleased  with  the  store  of  ivory  that 
had  been  secured. 

For  three  whole  days  I  rambled  about  on  the  banks  of  the 
Lehssy,  meeting  with  excellent  sport.  Amongst  other 
things,  I  killed  my  first  bushbock,  an  animal  of  which  the 
yellowish-tan  skin  is  marked  with  white  stripes,  the  lines  so 


BAMBOO  THICKETS.  255 

arranged  as  if  they  were  a  regular  harness.  There  is  always 
to  be  observed  some  difference  or  other  between  each  of 
these  creatures  and  all  its  fellows  ;  they  are  never  precisely 
alike ;  either  there  will  be  some  spot  or  speck,  or  stripe, 
which  is  peculiar  to  each,  and  distinguishes  it  from  all  the 
rest.  The  specimens  of  the  bush-bock  that  I  saw  were 
always  solitary ;  and  it  would  seem  to  be  more  timid  than 
any  other  species  of  antelope.  The  singular  marking  of  its 
skin  adapted  it  to  catch  the  eye,  but  it  was  rarely  visible  for 
more  than  a  moment ;  its  nervous  sensibility  made  it  keen 
to  catch  the  slightest  sound ;  the  lightest  rustling  w  ould 
make  it  bound  away  into  the  woods.  I  have  stood  breath- 
lessly waiting  with  cocked  rifle,  but  there  is  no  time  to  take 
a  proper  aim ;  and  the  shot  that  took  effect  I  own  was 
directed  rather  by  chance  than  skill. 

The  bamboo-thickets  are  likewise  a  favourite  resort  of 
wart-hogs,  which  there  find  abundant  food  in  the  tender 
young  sprouts  in  which  they  delight.  Numbers  of  birds, 
too,  attracted  by  the  grain  that  is  formed  in  the  round  and 
bushy  spikes  of  the  bamboo,  haunt  the  scene,  and  many 
varieties  of  sparrows  (Passeres)  build  and  breed  in  this 
solitude,  which  is  well-nigh  as  undisturbed  as  any  upon  the 
face  of  creation. 

The  appearance  of  a  herd  of  large  eland  antelopes  excited 
the  Niam-niam  of  the  neighbourhood  to  organise  a  regular 
hattue,  during  the  prosecution  of  which  they  met  with  a  bit 
of  good  fortune  that  did  not  often  occur.  They  succeeded  in 
killing  a  leopard,  an  event  tliat  was  deemed  so  great  a 
triumph  that  old  and  young  conspired  to  do  honour  to  the 
occasion.  The  first  intimation  that  we  had  of  anything 
unusual  having  transpired  was  given  by  the  war-trumpets, 
the  notes  of  which  were  heard  in  the  direction  of  Uringama's 
villages ;  our  first  impression  was  that  the  Niam-niam,  who 
were  charged  by  the  keen  Kenoosian  with  the  protection  of 
his  frontier,  had  been  successfully  repulsing  some  assault  on 


256  THE  HEAET  OF  AFRICA. 

the  part  of  the  Babuckur;  but  very  soon  the  report  was 
circulated  that  a  noble  present  was  being  conveyed  to 
Mohammed,  and,  true  enough,  ere  long  there  approached  a 
formal  procession  bearing  on  a  litter  of  leaves  the  blood- 
stained carcase  of  the  leopard.  The  offering  was  duly  laid 
at  Mohammed's  feet  as  a  tribute,  betokening  the  respect  and 
friendship  of  the  behnky.  Throughout  the  whole  of  Central 
Africa  the  skin  of  the  leopard  is  deemed  a  suitable  adorn- 
ment for  persons  of  princely  rank,  and  nowhere  is  it  more 
readily  admitted  amongst  the  insignia  of  royalty  than  with 
the  Niam-niam. 

The  animal  that  was  now  brought  in  was  more  than  a 
yard  in  length.  It  had  been  killed  in  a  singular  way. 
Having  encroached  stealthily  upon  the  position  of  the 
hartebeests,  and  not  suspecting  the  proximity  of  the  hunters, 
it  had  suddenly  found  itself  beset  by  a  body  of  men,  and  by 
a  prodigious  bound  endeavoured  to  leap  over  the  circle  of 
snares  that  had  been  set.  Just,  however,  as  the  leopard  was 
effecting  an  escape  it  was  struck  by  a  couple  of  lances  with 
such  violence  that  the  points  darned  themselves  into  the 
flesh,  and  left  the  stems  protruding.  Thus  impeded,  the 
wounded  creature  became  entangled  in  the  bushes  and, 
overpowered  by  the  number  of  missiles  hurled  against  it, 
succumbed  to  its  destiny. 

All  the  leopard  skins  that  I  saw  in  this  part  of  Africa 
belonged  to  animals  of  the  thick-set  species,  which  is  dis- 
tinguished by  large  complicated  spots,  each  spot  being  itself 
an  assemblage  of  smaller  spots,  which  run,  generally  in 
about  five  rows,  along  the  entire  body.  By  some  naturalists 
this  species  is  designated  as  the  panther,  in  contradistinction 
to  the  true  leopard,  which  is  said  to  have  a  more  slender 
body  covered  with  more  numerous  rows  of  smaller  spots. 
This,  however,  is  an  error ;  in  spite  of  the  many  varieties  of 
form  and  the  gradations  in  the  markings  of  the  skin,  it 
appears    certain    that    but   one   species   of    leopard   exists 


THE  BABUCKUR.  257 

throughout  Africa,  and  that  in  tliis  quarter  of  the  globe, 
at  least,  the  distinctive  terms  of  leopard  and  panther  are 
unnecessary. 

On  my  previous  wanderings  I  had  skirted  about  three- 
fourths  of  the  frontier  of  the  Babuckur  territory.  As  this 
territory  lay  but  a  short  distance  to  the  south-west  of 
Mbomo,  being  bounded  by  the  Tondy,  I  was  able  to  obtain 
from  the  soldiers  of  the  Seriba  some  particulars  of  the 
country  of  which  I  had  seen  the  natives  largely  represented 
among  the  slaves  of  the  various  settlements  at  which.  I  had 
sojourned. 

The  Babuckur  must  either  have  migrated  to  their  present 
quarters  from  the  south,  or  they  must  be  the  remnant  of  a 
nation  that  has  been  constrained  to  make  its  way  to  the 
north  and  to  the  east  by  the  advance  of  the  Niam-niam.  It 
is  said  that  their  dialect  is  found  amongst  some  of  the  tribes 
to  the  south  of  the  Monbuttoo ;  this  is  not  at  all  unlikely,  as, 
like  those  tribes,  they  have  an  established  system  of  agri- 
culture and  give  great  attention  to  the  breeding  of  goats. 
Limited  to  an  area  of  not  more  than  350  square  miles,  the 
eastern  portion  of  this  people  is  very  much  exposed  to  the 
raids  of  the  Khartoomer  traders  and  to  the  depredations  of 
the  Niam-niam  chieftains,  who  for  years  have  considered 
their  land  as  a  sort  of  outlying  storehouse,  from  which  they 
could  at  pleasure  replenish  their  stock  of  corn  and  cattle. 
By  reason  of  the  perpetual  persecutions  to  which  they  have 
been  subject,  their  population  has  gradually  become  more 
and  more  compressed,  and  their  very  crowded  condition 
itself  probably  accounts  for  the  vigorous  intensity  with 
which  they  now  ward  off  any  acts  of  hostility ;  they  are 
equally  warlike  and  resolute  ;  they  will  fight  till  they  have 
shed  their  last  drop  of  blood;  and  as  cannibalism  is  com- 
monly reported  to  be  practised  among  them,  their  assailants 
are  generally  content  to  carry  off  whatever  plunder  is  to  be 
secured,  as  hastily  as  possible,  without  waiting  to  pursue 


258  THE  HEART  OF  AFRICA. 

or  trying  to  subjugate  them.  Their  eastern  neighbours,  the 
Loobah,  though  themselves  harassed  by  the  oppressors  from 
the  north,  are  continually  at  war  with  the  Babuckur. 

The  other  portion  of  the  Babuckur  has  withdrawn  to  the 
frontiers  of  the  Bongo  and  Niam-niam  that  lie  between  the 
Sway  and  the  Tondy,  about  sixty  miles  to  the  north-west  of 
the  portion  to  which  I  have  been  referring ;  the  complete 
identity  of  the  race,  thus  severed  only  in  situation,  is  verified 
not  only  by  the  one  term  *'  Babuckur"  being  applied  indis- 
criminately to  the  two  sections,  but  still  more  by  the 
complete  similarity  of  the  dialects,  as  I  afterwards  proved  by 
comparing  the  vocabularies  that  I  compiled.  The  Bongo 
call  the  western  division  of  the  Babuckur  "  Mundo."* 

The  Babuckur  are  a  tropical  negro  race.  Their  com- 
plexion is  very  dark.  As  slaves  they  are  very  useful,  being 
of  a  docile  and  enduring  temperament,  handy  in  the  house, 
and  expert  at  almost  any  ordinary  work.  They  are  short  in 
stature,  and  have  a  vacant,  not  to  say  a  repulsive,  expression. 
The  women,  when  they  have  once  passed  their  youth  are,  as 
a  rule,  the  very  incarnation  of  ugliness,  for  besides  having 
extremely  irregular  features,  they  mutilate  their  faces  in  a 
most  frightful  way.  All  married  women  t  pierce  the  rims  of 
their  ears  and  both  their  lips,  and  insert  bits  of  grass-stalk 
about  an  inch  long  in  the  holes,  some  of  them  having  as 
many  as  twenty  of  these  grass-slips  about  their  mouth  and 
ears.  The  sides  of  the  nostrils  are  treated  in  the  same  way 
as  amongst  the  women  of  the  Bongo,  as  I  noticed  in  its 
proper  place. 

As  Mohammed  was  anxious  to  inspect  his  Mittoo  Seribas 
again  before  returning  to  his  chief  settlement,  1  did  not  wait 
for  him,  but,  accompanied  by  a  small  retinue,  I  started  off 


*  This  is  the  Mundo  of  Petlierick. 

t  The  portrait  of  a  Babuckur  woman  is  given  in  the  subsequent  chapter 
on  the  slave-trade. 


FORDING  THE  LEHSSINDAH.  259 

on  the  29th  of  June,  taking  the  nearest  route  to  Sabby. 
For  the  first  four  miles  we  followed  the  same  path  by  which 
we  had  come  to  Mbomo,  and  although  the  rain  fell  inces- 
santly, the  bamboo-forest  was  so  unbroken  that  it  afforded 
us  an  effectual  shelter,  and  we  reached  the  descent  to  the 
Morokoh  with  dry  skins.  After  crossing  the  brook  we 
turned  off  in  a  north-westerly  direction,  at  an  acute  angle 
to  our  previous  path. 

An  immense  tract  of  forest,  utterly  barren  and  unin- 
habited, was  now  before  us.  The  nearest  cultivated  spot 
would  be  the  villages  of  the  Bongo,  near  Ngoly,  which  could 
not  be  less  than  forty  miles  away,  and  certainly  could  not 
be  reached  within  three  days.  After  crossing  four  little 
meadow-waters,  and  fording  the  Lehssindah  where  it  flowed 
between  its  gneiss  banks,  we  encamped  for  the  night  about 
a  league  further  on,  near  another  of  these  meadow-waters, 
which  are  very  numerous,  and  which,  spreading  themselves 
out  in  open  glades,  sometimes  500  paces  wide,  break  the 
monotony  of  the  wooded  scene. 

The  whole  region  was  enlivened  by  herds  of  hartebeests, 
and  choosing  my  position  at  the  head  of  the  procession,  I 
was  ever  on  the  qui  vive  to  pursue  them.  ]My  exertions  in 
this  way  made  the  distance  that  I  actually  travelled  three 
times  as  much  as  it  need  have  been ;  but  I  had  no  other 
reward  for  my  pains  than  the  amusement  I  derived  from  the 
grotesque  movements  of  the  agile  creatures. 

After  I  had  comfortably  settled  myself  for  the  night  in  my 
grass  nest,  a  circumstance  occurred  of  a  kind  which  more 
than  once  had  happened  to  us  before.  I  was  roused  by  a 
dull  heavy  sound  that  seemed  to  shake  the  ground  like  an 
approaching  earthquake.  Our  camp  was  tolerably  extensive, 
for,  besides  my  own  retinue,  a  considerable  number  of 
Mohammed's  bearers,  conveying  a  large  quantity  of  his  ivory, 
had  been  sent  in  our  party ;  but  large  as  our  numbers  were, 
the  whole  camp  was  thrown  into  commotion,  and  shouts  and 


260  THE  HEART  OF  AFRICA. 

gun-shots  were  heard  from  every  quarter.  The  explanation 
of  the  uproar  was  that  an  enormous  herd  of  buffaloes  in 
their  nightly  wanderings  had  come  scampering  down  upon 
our  position,  and  exposed  us  to  the  manifest  risk  of 'being 
trampled  to  death. 

Early  on  the  second  morning  we  reached  the  banks  of  the 
Lehssy.  The  deep  river-bed  was  now  quite  full,  the  stream 
being  forty  feet  wide  and  flowing  in  a  westerly  direction  at 
the  rate  of  sixty  feet  a  minute.  The  bearers  performed  the 
passage  by  the  ordinary  manoeuvre  of  bridging  over  the 
water.  For  my  own  part  I  thought  to  adopt  a  scheme  which 
would  give  some  variety  to  the  monotony  of  these  proceed- 
ings, and  became  the  victim  of  a  little  episode  of  by  no 
means  an  agreeable  nature.  There  would  be  a  difficulty,  I 
felt,  in  wearing  my  boots  to  cross  the  tangled  branches  of 
which  the  extemporised  bridges  are  formed ;  they  would 
permit  no  sure  hold  to  the  feet,  and  to  walk  over  bare- 
footed would  not  have  been  a  prudent  experiment,  as  I 
might  become  footsore  and  prevented  from  marching;  I 
therefore  abandoned  all  idea  of  clambering  over,  but  un- 
dressed myself  and  proceeded  to  swim  across  the  flood. 
When  I  was  just  within  a  few  strokes  of  the  opposite  shore, 
all  at  once  I  experienced  a  painful  shock  that  throbbed 
through  every  limb ;  I  had  come  into  contact  with  one  of 
the  prickly  mimosa-bushes,  which  I  have  already  described 
as  frequently  hedging  in  the  various  streams.  The  river-bed 
being  now  full  to  its  entire  capacity,  the  water  had  com- 
pletely risen  above  the  dangerous  shrubs,  so  that  they  had 
quite  escaped  my  notice.  I  knew  the  nature  of  these  thorny 
barriers  by  experience,  and  when  I  mention  that  I  never 
foimd  the  stoutest  boots  able  to  withstand  the  penetrating 
power  of  the  spikes,  it  may  be  imagined  to  a  degree  what 
agony  I  now  suffered.  It  was  like  stranding  on  a  reef  of 
thorns.  The  utmost  refinement  of  cruelty  could  hardly 
devise  an  instrument  of  torture  much  more  efi'ectual  than 


SHARPLY  STUNG.  261 

these  mimosae.  However,  swim  I  must.  With  a  desperate 
effort  I  got  myself  free  from  the  entanglement  of  the  shrubs, 
and,  bleeding  from  a  hundred  lacerations,  I  contrived  to 
reach  the  land.  I  felt  as  if  my  whole  body  had  been 
scarified.  But  there  was  no  time  to  lose ;  so,  in  spite  of  the 
nervous  shock,  the  angry  wounds,  and  the  smarting  skin,  I 
set  out  at  once  in  continuation  of  our  march. 

We  travelled  live  leagues  that  day  and  crossed  six 
separate  meadow-waters  and  glades  of  the  same  character  as 
those  already  mentioned. 

After  proceeding  for  a  considerable  distance  over  bare  red 
rocks,  we  were  overtaken  by  a  sudden  storm  of  rain,  and 
had  to  take  hasty  measures  for  protecting  the  baggage.  But 
the  interruption  did  not  prevent  me  from  doing  a  little 
interesting  botanizing  during  the  interval  of  delay.  I  found 
two  of  the  prettiest  plants  that  the  land  produces  here, 
showing  themselves  in  great  abundance:  a  little  orchid 
(Hahenaria  erocea)  with  saffron-coloured  blossoms,  and  a 
sky-blue  Monbretia,  not  unlike  a  squill.  In  many  places 
the  barren  rocks  were  overspread  with  patches  of  these 
plants,  that  they  looked  as  though  a  carpet  had  been  laid 
out  upon  them,  the  colours  blending  into  patterns  that  would 
not  disgrace  the  flower-beds  of  our  modern  gardening. 

In  connection  with  the  second  of  our  night  encampments 
a  circumstance  occurred,  trifling  in  itself,  but  which  was  a 
convincing  proof  that,  however  deserted  and  free  from  human 
intrusion  these  forest  solitudes  might  appear,  they  are  never- 
theless explored  by  the  natives  when  they  are  out  upon  their 
hunting  excursions.  In  the  bustle  of  starting  in  the  morn- 
ing, a  pair  of  boots,  which  I  had  hung  up  to  dry  within  my 
grass-hut,  had  been  forgotten  and  left  behind.  I  did  not 
miss  them  for  a  few  days ;  but  as  their  loss  could  not  be 
replaced,  I  sent  some  people  back,  in  the  hope  that  they 
would  recover  them.  It  was  found  that  the  huts  meanwhile 
had  been  ransacked  by  some  mysterious  stranger,  and  the 

Vol.  XL— 19 


262  THE  HEART  OF  AFRICA. 

rare  treasure  had  not  escaped  the  keen  eye  of  the  hunter  i 
the  boots,  indeed,  were  hanging  precisely  where  they  had 
been  left;  but  every  nail,  and  every  little  brass  ring  that 
formed  the  eyelets  for  the  laces,  had  been  carefully  extracted 
from  the  leather,  and  were  now  probably  gleaming  in  the 
nose  and  ears  of  some  swarthy  beauty. 

Early  in  the  morning  of  the  third  day  we  entered  the 
splendid  forest  of  Humboldtise,  through  which,  only  ten  miles 
to  the  west,  we  had  passed  at  the  commencement  of  our 
Niam-niam  campaign.  After  the  forest  came  an  open  steppe, 
with  a  distant  view  of  the  hills  in  front,  which  we  should 
again  have  to  cross,  though  more  to  the  east  than  before. 
The  passage  of  the  Mah  being  accomplished,  the  ascent 
began,  and  led  through  a  wood,  where  the  foliage  was  so 
dense  that  it  was  quite  impossible  to  see  many  steps  ahead. 
At  this  period  I  chanced  to  be  nearly  in  the  rear  of  the 
procession,  when  my  attention  was  arrested  by  an  old  black 
slave  in  the  pathway,  who  kept  beckoning  me  to  come  to  her. 
I  found,  on  going  up  to  the  place  where  she  stood,  that  she 
wanted  to  point  out  to  me  a  black  object  that  was  about  ten 
•paces  away ;  at  first  I  took  it  to  be  merely  a  great  stem  of  a 
tree  that  could  only  be  indistinctly  seen  behind  the  large 
leaves  of  the  Anonae ;  and  I  was  about  to  make  a  somewhat 
closer  investigation,  when  all  at  once  the  mass  began  to 
move,  and  a  fine  pair  of  horns  displayed  themselves.  In  my 
impetuous  surprise  I  fired  mechanically,  without  an  aim. 
My  sudden  shot  raised  a  storm  that  I  had  little  expected. 
In  an  instant  a  herd  of  twenty  buffaloes,  snorting  and 
bellowing,  with  tails  erect,  came  galloping  past  in  mad 
career.  Dizzy  with  confusion  I  discharged  my  double- 
barrelled  rifle  amongst  the  brutes;  another  moment  and  I 
could  see  nothing  more  than  the  massive  foliage :  the  buffa- 
loes had  vanished,  and  I  heard  no  more  of  them  than  the 
distant  thunder  of  their  heavy  tramp. 

The  hills  before  us  were  called  Mashirr :  thev  were  a  con- 


A  HARTEBEEST  KILLED.  263 

tiimation  of  the  steep  declivity  of  Mbala-Ngeea  in  the  west,  to 
which  I  have  already  alluded,  extending  onwards  towards 
the  south-east  and  forming  a  portion  of  the  ridge  that  had 
been  on  our  right  during  the  whole  of  our  march.  On  the 
summit,  as  far  as  the  eye  can  reach,  there  is  an  extensive 
plateau,  broken  by  detached  groves  and  handsome  trees,  and 
sloping  down  towards  the  north,  to  the  depression  of  the  Tee. 
For  the  first  time,  after  long  missing  them,  we  found  some 
tamarinds,  under  the  ample  shade  of  which  we  made  a  siiort 
noonday  halt,  and  then  started  off  through  some  deep 
defiles  that  led  to  arid  plains.  Before  reaching  the  Tee  we 
counted  four  little  brooks  that  flowed  in  an  easterly  direction 
to  join  it ;  the  first  of  these,  to  the  north  of  the  hills,  was 
the  upper  course  of  the  Nungolongboh,  and  was  full  of  water 
in  a  deep  bed  enclosed  by  an  avenue  of  trees.  A  ridge  of 
hills  ran  parallel  to  our  path  upon  the  left,  and  after  we  had 
crossed  the  second  brook  we  observed  a  mass  of  red  rock 
rising  to  about  300  feet  upon  our  right.  Many  small  herds 
of  hartebeests  came  in  sight.  I  lamed  one  of  the  animals 
with  a  rifle-shot,  and  was  grieved  to  see  how  cruelly  it  was 
afterwards  butchered  by  the  Bongo,  the  poor  brute  being  so 
unmercifully  mangled  by  their  lances  that  I  had  no  little 
difficulty  in  getting  a  piece  of  solid  flesh  large  enough  to 
carry  off  and  roast. 

So  much  time  was  lost  in  our  chase  of  the  antelope  that 
the  evening  came  on  whilst  we  had  still  some  leagues  to 
travel,  and  we  soon  found  ourselves  marching  on  in  com- 
plete darkness.  I  was  amongst  the  stragglers  of  our  party, 
and  we  lost  our  way  several  times  before  we  w^ere  finally 
collected  by  the  clanging  roll  of  the  kettle-drums  on  the 
southern  outposts  of  the  Bongo.  It  was  quite  midnight 
when,  weary  with  our  exertions  and  drenched  by  passing 
through  so  many  swamps,  we  arrived,  after  a  circuitous 
route,  at  the  village  of  Ngoly. 

At  this  place  we  remained  a  day  to  recruit  our  strength. 


264  THE  HEART  OF  AFRICA. 

In  the  environs  of  the  village  I  found  the  Encephalartiis 
(here  in  its  most  northerly  position),  the  seeds,  as  large  as 
hazel-nuts,  strewing  the  ground  in  all  directions. 

At  this  season,  too,  the  fruit  of  the  wild  date-palm  was 
ripe,  and  I  collected  a  large  quantity  of  it,  with  which  I 
made  an  unsuccessful  attempt  to  concoct  some  African  palm- 
wine.  The  fruit  possesses  the  same  pleasant  aroma  as  the 
common  date,  but  it  is  only  a  third  of  the  size,  and  is  very 
unpalatable,  being  harsh,  dry,  and  woody. 

On  the  3rd  of  July  we  marched,  without  a  single  halt, 
for  nine  consecutive  hours,  until  we  found  ourselves  once 
again  in  Sabby.  The  last  few  leagues  were  accomplished  in 
a  drizzling  rain.  Large  herds  of  antelopes  frequented  the 
district ;  but  it  was  vexatious  to  find  myself  continually 
foiled  in  chasing  them  by  the  over-eagerness  of  my  own 
dogs,  which  I  was  quite  unable  to  restrain. 

Our  entry  into  Sabby  made  a  wonderful  impression  upon 
Tikkitikki.  He  caught  sight  of  a  number  of  cattle  quietly 
grazing  before  the  gate  of  the  Seriba,  and,  jumping  to  the 
conclusion  that  they  must  be  a  herd  of  wild  antelopes  that 
had  accidentally  strayed  there,  could  not  comprehend  why 
no  one  endeavoured  to  avail  himself  of  so  splendid  a  chance 
to  secure  a  prize.  Subsequently,  when  he  witnessed  the 
process  of  milking,  his  delight  knew  no  bounds  ;  he  laughed 
aloud,  and  declared  that  so  comical  a  sight  he  had  never 
seen  before. 

This  journey  had  been  one  of  the  most  pleasant  and  the 
most  successful  that  had  ever  been  undertaken  in  so  remote 
a  part  of  the  continent.  Its  pleasantness  was  owing  to  my 
state  of  health  and  to  the  fine  air  of  the  Niam-niam  countries ; 
its  success  was  due  to  the  favourable  circumstances  under 
which  I  had  travelled.  In  Europe  the  general  idea  of  such 
a  journey  is  that  it  must  be  a  sort  of  martyrdom,  made  up 
of  indescribable  fatigue,  exertion,  and  deprivation;  but, 
without  hesitation,  I  can  afiiim  that,  to  a  traveller  who  can 


FIVE  DAYS'  REST.  265 

only  maintain  his  strength  and  activity,  it  is  far  otherwise ; 
though  he  may  find  his  enterprise  laborious,  he  will  not  find 
it  wearisome ;  it  will  be  what  a  German  would  describe  as 
miihsam  rather  than  muhselig.  Fatigue  and  hardships  are 
estimated  comparatively,  not  so  much  to  themselves,  as  to 
the  ordinary  comfort  of  domestic  life.  Those  who  are 
acquainted  with  such  fatigue  as  attends  our  modern  warfare, 
with  its  transient  strain  upon  the  powers  of  endurance,  may 
probably  form  a  fair  idea  of  the  character  of  my  exertions ; 
but  to  all  those  who,  like  myself,  have  travelled  by  "  Russian 
posts  "  my  worst  trials  and  wants  in  Africa  would  appear 
mere  child's  play.  In  fact,  our  days'  marches  were  often  so 
short  that  I  became  quite  impatient.  Our  Niam-niam  cam- 
paign from  Sabby  occupied  150  days,  and  in  that  time, 
apart  from  a  few  unimportant  deviations,  we  had  only 
travelled  560  miles  in  all ;  according  to  the  calculations  as 
registered  in  my  journal  at  the  time,  the  whole  distance 
accomplished  was  about  248  leagues. 

After  the  forced  marches,  however,  that  we  had  just  re- 
cently been  making,  I  was  heartily  glad  of  the  five  days' 
rest  which  I  was  now  enabled  to  enjoy  in  Sabby.  A  large 
packet  of  letters  was  awaiting  my  arrival,  and  to  read 
through  a  correspondence  which  had  been  accumulating  for 
a  year  and  a  half  was  an  agreeable  engagement  for  the 
period  of  unwonted  repose.  It  was  now  for  the  first  time 
that  I  heard  of  Sir  Samuel  Baker's  adventurous  expedition, 
and  now  that  I  got  my  earliest  intimation  of  the  Egyptian 
Government  having  undertaken  to  establish  a  footing  in  the 
Gazelle  district.  Kurshook  Ali,  a  born  Osmanli  and  one  of 
the  chief  ivory  merchants  of  Khartoom,  who  possessed  a 
Seriba  there,  had  been  invested  by  the  Governor-General 
with  the  title  of  a  Sandjak,  and  been  placed  at  the  head  of 
two  companies  of  Government  troops,  one  company  being 
regular  Turks  (Bazibazuks),  the  other  composed  of  negroes 
(Nizzam).     Tlie  arrival  of  these  troops  had  excited  a  great 


2G6  THE  HEART  OF  AFRICA. 

amount  oi'  consternation  through  all  the  Seribas,  for,  apart 
from  the  fact  that  it  too  probably  seemed  to  jeopardise  the 
very  foundation  of  the  rights  of  the  holders  to  the  territory, 
it  certainly  presaged  the  levying  of  those  taxes  and  imposts 
which  the  presence  of  Government  soldiers  always  entails. 
What,  in  the  first  place,  excited  Kurshook  All's  cupidity  was 
to  get  possession  of  the  famous  copper  mines  of  South 
Darfoor.  He  was  going  to  appropriate  these  in  the  name  of 
the  Viceroy,  but  Ismail  Pasha  was  caught  in  a  trap,  and 
beguiled  by  the  duplicity  of  a  priest  belonging  to  Darfoor, 
who  represented  the  locality  as  being  his  own  private 
property,  exhibiting  a  forged  deed  of  gift,  purporting  to  be 
made  by  the  late  Sultan,  to  corroborate  his  claim. 

Hellali,  for  such  was  the  name  of  the  skilful  swindler,  had 
for  some  time  been  employed  as  a  secretary  at  the  Court  of 
the  Sultan  Hussein,  and,  being  familiar  with  the  administra- 
tion of  the  affairs  of  Darfoor,  turned  his  knowledge  to  account 
in  fostering  the  animosity  of  that  country  against  Egypt,  its 
far  more  powerful  neighbour.  He  had  not,  however,  the 
slightest  acquaintance  with  the  property  which  he  claimed  as 
his  own,  and  led  the  troops,  with  their  Sandjak,  by  difficult 
paths  to  an  uncertain  iate,  in  a  country  that  was  scarcely 
known  even  by  name. 

In  possession  of  the  Viceregal  firman,  Hellali  had  the 
companies  of  black  soldiers  under  his  own  orders,  while 
Kurshook  Ali  had  only  the  Arnauts.  The  story  of  how 
Hellali  brought  about  a  bloody  conflict  not  only  with  the 
occupiers  of  the  Seribas,  but  (after  the  death  of  the  Sandjak, 
Kurshook  Ali,  which  occurred  soon  afterwards)  with  the 
Turkish  soldiers  themselves,  must  be  narrated  on  a  later 
page. 

After  I  had  re-arranged  and  re-packed  my  collection,  and 
seen  that  it  had  been  properly  enveloped  in  waterproof  cases, 
I  provided  myself  with  a  fresh  relay  of  bearers,  and,  on  the 
8th  of  July,  proceeded   again    towards  the  north.     It  was 


A  TRYING  JOUENEY.  267 

hardly  in  human  nature  not  to  be  eager  to  get  the  provisions 
which,  having  been  forwarded  from  Khartoom,  were  now 
delayed  beside  the  sluggish  waters  of  the  Gazelle.  Moham- 
med, however,  had  not  yet  appeared,  but  was  still  making 
his  requisitions  of  corn  in  his  territories  amongst  the  Mittoo. 
In  consequence  of  his  not  returning  with  the  anticipated 
contributions  there  was  an  increased  dearth  in  Sabby,  and 
my  poor  bearers  were  becoming  absolutely  destitute.  Their 
sufferings  during  their  arduous  five  days'  toil  were  little 
short  of  incredible.  The  Seribas  of  Shereefee,  which  were 
passed  upon  the  way,  were  as  "  hard  up "  for  sustenance  as 
Sabby  itself;  and  besides  this,  the  Bongo  that  were  settled 
thereabouts  were  all  in  avowed  hostility  to  my  own  Bongo, 
so  that  no  spirit  of  hospitality  was  to  be  expected  along 
our  route. 

Throughout  this  portion  of  our  trying  journey,  the  bearers, 
incredible  as  it  may  appear,  subsisted  solely  upon  the  wild 
roots  which  they  could  grub  up ;  they  had  positively  nothing 
else  to  support  them,  and  only  digestions  such  as  theirs  could 
have  endured  the  strain.  The  pressure  under  which  we 
laboured  of  accomplishing  the  journey  without  loss  of  time 
was  so  urgent  that  there  was  not  leisure  to  avail  ourselves  of 
any  temptation  to  the  chase,  and,  however  much  we  might 
feast  our  eyes,  we  were  under  the  stern  necessity  of  keeping 
back  our  feet  from  pursuing  the  elands  and  waterbocks 
which  had  ventured  from  the  wilderness  and  were  grazing 
peacefully  in  almost  close  proximity  to  our  line  of  marcli. 

It  was  on  the  10th  that  we  reached  Shereefee's  chief 
Seriba,  but  we  did  not  enter  it.  I  had  openly  declared 
myself  to  belong  to  Mohammed's  party,  and  indeed  could 
not  do  otherwise  than  foresee  the  bitterness  of  those  con- 
tentions which  so  soon  afterwards  broke  out  and  led  to 
such  serious  issues. 

Most  fortunately  we  were  free  from  rain  all  the  day.  The 
groups  of  sycamores,  which  on  our  former  visit  had  furnished 


268  THE  HEART  OP  AFRICA. 

such  a  commodious  encampment  uuder  the  shelter  of  their 
splendid  foliage,  invited  us  once  again  to  take  up  ouv 
quarters  beneath  them  ;  but  we  had  hardly  settled  ourselves 
under  their  shade  before  we  were  surprised  by  the  sudden 
outbreak  of  a  storm,  which  continued  with  much  violence. 
The  woody  landscape  around  was  pleasant  enough,  and  I 
was  compensated  in  a  way  by  the  beauty  of  the  scenery  for 
the  lack  of  provisions ;  but  I  looked  forward  with  eager  hope 
for  a  period  of  refreshment  when  there  would  be  an  end  to 
chilly  baths  and  wearing  apparel  perpetually  wet. 

The  passage  over  the  Doggoroo  was  not  made  without 
considerable  trouble,  as  we  had  to  fell  some  trees  and  lay 
down  a  lot  of  brushwood  so  as  to  construct  one  of  our  impro- 
vised bridges.  The  last  night-camp  between  the  Doggoroo 
and  the  Tondy  was  deplorably  wretched;  our  provisions 
were  positively  exhausted ;  all  we  could  do  was  to  send  some 
messengers  to  the  nearest  Seriba  to  insure  that  we  should 
have  a  supply  of  some  kind  in  readiness  for- us  on  the 
following  morning.  It  was  also  necessary  to  have  extra 
bearers,  as  comparatively  few  of  the  Bongo  of  Sabby  had 
any  knowledge  of  the  art  of  swimming. 

After  arriving  at  the  height,  from  whence,  for  some  miles 
round,  we  could  survey  the  expanse  of  the  submerged  low- 
lands, we  ha'd  still  several  hours  before  we  could  decipher 
in  the  distance  the  forms  of  the  swimmers  bringing  the 
burdens  of  which  we  were  in  such  urgent  need.  My  bearers 
could  not  control  their  impatience ;  greedily  they  pounced 
upon  the  first  bags  of  corn  that  were  brought  to  land,  and 
without  tarrying  for  the  grain  to  be  cooked,  they  thrust  it 
by  handfuls  into  their  mouths.  Their  strong  teeth  easily 
crunched  it  up,  the  hard  dry  corn  being  as  readily  devoured 
by  them  as  if  they  had  been  accustomed  to  it  all  their  lives. 
Horses,  or  ruminants  of  any  kind,  could  not  more  readily 
have  disposed  of  a  feed  of  oats. 

I  had  thoroughly  to  undress  myself  in  order  to  pass  over 


CROSSING  THE  TONDY.  269 

the  flooded  depression,  and  even  upon  the  banks  of  the 
stream  I  stood  knee-deep  in  water.  The  passage  over  the 
river  was  tedious,  mainly  in  consequence  of  the  sharp  edges 
of  the  marsh-grass  and  the  numerous  pit-holes  in  the  bottom 
making  any  rapid  progress  very  dangerous.  No  less  than  two 
hours  had  I  to  dawdle  away  my  time  in  this  cheerless  posi- 
tion before  the  caravan  could  be  brought  entirely  over.  A  small 
raft,  constructed  of  bundles  of  grass  tied  together,  was  used 
for  the  purpose  of  ferrying  the  baggage  across ;  and, 
thanks  to  the  excessive  care  that  was  used,  not  a  single 
article  failed  to  be  transported  in  safety. 

At  this  date  (July  12,  1870)  the  Tondy  was  flowing 
with  a  velocity  of  eighty  feet  a  minute  ;  the  depth  of  the 
channel,  now  over-full,  proved  to  be  no  less  than  twenty- 
four  feet,  and  the  eutire  width  of  the  stream,  as  it  reached 
from  the  reedy  border  on  one  side  to  that  on  the  other, 
extended  to  something  more  than  120  feet.  The  river  had 
now  risen  more  than  four  feet  beyond  the  ordinary  limits  of 
its  inundation,  and  our  train  had  repeatedly  to  make  wide 
deviations  from  its  proper  route  in  order  to  keep  where  the 
bottom  was  tolerably  level  and  free  from  dangerous  holes. 
The  day  was  well-nigh  spent  in  contending  with  rain  and 
flood,  and  it  was  quite  dusk  before  we  hailed  the  welcome 
sight  of  the  hospitable  huts  of  Kulongo. 

There  is  a  way  of  transporting  baggage  across  such  rivers 
as  are  tolerably  free  from  danger,  which  appears  to  me  to 
be  eminently  practicable,  and  to  be  suited  peculiarly  well  to 
this  country,  but  which  I  was  sorry  never  to  see  brought 
into  use.  It  is  a  method  recommended  by  Barth  *  in  the 
record  of  his  enterprise,  and  consists  simply  of  making  a 
ferry  by  means  of  gourds.  About  a  couple  of  dozen  of 
moderate-sized  calabashes  are  fastened  together  and  covered 
over  with  layers  of  grass,  and  these  are  found  to  make  a 


♦  Vide  '  Earth's  Travels,'  vol.  ii.  p.  254 


270  THE  HEART  OF  AFEICA. 

raft,  which  is  quite  capable  of  bearing  several  hundred- 
weight of  goods.  It  has  been  to  no  purpose  that  I  have 
called  the  attention  of  the  Nubians  to  this  contrivance ; 
although  they  seemed  forced  to  acknowledge  the  efficacy  of 
the  plap,  they  are  not  disposed  to  try  it ;  however,  for  the 
benefit  of  future  travellers,  I  beg  to  suggest  it  as  a  method 
which,  under  many  circumstances,  might  afford  them 
incomparable  service. 

Thus  it  was  that  after  an  absence  of  eight  months  I  found 
myself  happily  back  again  at  my  old  quarters.  The  place 
itself  was  little  altered,  except  that  the  Seriba  seemed  to  be 
in  a  more  flourishing  condition  than  in  the  previous  year. 
The  Bongo  deserters,  who  had  caused  the  failure  of  the 
Niam-niam  expedition,  had  in  consequence  of  a  campaign 
against  the  Dinka  tribes,  on  whose  territory  they  had  taken 
up  their  quarters,  not  only  themselves  returned  to  their 
former  abode,  but  had  induced  three  times  as  many  Bongo 
as  there  were  before  to  come  and  settle  upon  Ghattas's 
property.  These  people,  who  were  now  present  in  such 
superfluous  numbers,  had  ten  years  ago  all  taken  themselves 
off  at  the  first  appearance  of  strangers  settling  in  their  land. 
I  saw  that  numerous  tracts  of  woodlands  had  been  cleared 
and  brought  under  cultivation,  and  that  various  clusters  of 
houses  and  farmsteads  had  grown  up  around.  Altogether  I 
should  say  that  there  could  not  have  been  much  less  than 
600  fresh  huts,  which  would  represent  at  least  2500  souls. 
Since  my  departure,  too,  Ghattas  senior  had  bidden  his  last 
farewell  to  earthly  property,  and  his  Seribas  on  tlie  Upper 
Nile  had  all  become  the  inheritance  of  his  eldest  son. 

After  being  away  so  long  I  felt  that  it  w^as  almost  like 
coming  home,  and  realised  something  of  the  sensation  of 
treading  again  the  soil  of  my  fatherland  when  I  gazed 
afresh  upon  this  country,  so  rich  in  its  woodland  charms,  so 
abundant  in  its  smiling  sunny  cultivation,  so  contrasted  in 
its  character  to  the  gloomy  and  inhospitable  forests  of  the 


PROJECT  OF  SECOND  NIAMNIAM  TOUR.  271 

Niam-niam,  which  I  had  just  quitted.  I  could  not  be  other- 
wise than  conscious  that  I  had  taken  a  step  which  brought 
me  nearer  Europe.  The  large  establishment  with  its  diver- 
sified population  of  full  many  a  hue,  the  mere  sight  of 
clothes  and  linen  that  had  known  what  it  is  to  be  washed, 
the  unaccustomed  diversity  of  victuals  of  which  we  could 
partake,  all  seemed  so  different  to  the  contracted  resources 
and  meagre  fare  to  which  of  late  I  had  been  subject,  that  I 
could  hardly  resist  the  impression  that  I  must  be  living 
in  a  city,  and  could  almost  fancy  myself  already  back  at 
Khartoom.  But  before  that  could  happen  there  were  many 
obstacles  to  be  overcome,  and  I  must  submit  for  various 
reasons  to  stay  where  I  was.  The  journey  to  the  Meshera, 
at  this  season  of  the  year,  presented  nothing  but  countless 
marshes,  the  very  birthplace  of  the  miasma,  which  in  its 
turn  begets  fever.  Fresh  deprivations  for  months  to  come 
would  be  the  penalty  of  attempting  at  once  to  proceed  up 
the  river,  and  I  had,  moreover,  reason  to  mistrust  the  capa- 
bility of  my  constitution  to  withstand  disease  if  I  put  it  to 
too  stern  a  test.  I  resolved,  therefore,  to  tarry  as  patiently 
as  I  could,  and  to  console  myself  with  the  pleasure  of  antici- 
pation. In  addition  to  this  I  had  several  important  tasks 
which  had  never  been  satisfactorily  finished,  although  I  felt 
that  the  main  object  of  my  mission  had  been  generally 
accomplished. 

The  temptation  to  a  second  Niam-niam  tour  was  too 
strong  to  be  resisted.  I  felt  that  it  was  my  business  to 
strike  while  the  iron  was  hot,  because  future  travellers  only 
too  probably  would  find  that  opportunities  so  good  as  my 
own  were  closed  against  them. 

Exactly  a  month  after  our  arrival  a  party  was  despatched 
for  the  purpose  of  fetching  the  supplies  which  were  on  their 
way  to  me.  Not  only  my  own  effects,  but  Ghattas's  too, 
were  all  lying  crammed  up  in  the  meagre  and  not  over-safi! 
acconimodati<m  of  the  hold  of  the  boats. 


272  THE  HEART  OF  AFRICA. 

One  occupation  which  engaged  my  attention  continuously 
consisted  in  my  supervision  of  the  arrangement  of  my 
miscellaneous  collection,  which  had  increased  very  largely. 
It  was  necessary  that  everything  should  be  put  into  a 
condition  ready  for  its  long  transport. 

Another  demand  upon  my  time  arose  from  my  having 
my  correspondence  for  the  ensuing  year  to  complete  and  my 
journal  to  transcribe.  My  industry  at  this  period  had  its 
full  reward.  The  documents  that  I  then  copied  and  the 
outline  maps  that  I  dotted  down  were  all  preserved,  and. 
were  the  only  compensation  I  had  to  make  good  the  sub- 
sequent melancholy  loss  of  all  my  other  papers. 

It  will  easily  be  understood  how  delighted  I  was,  on  the 
23rd  of  August,  to  receive  my  new  consignment  of  supplies. 
Although  a  good  many  articles  had  either  been  damaged 
by  damp  or  devoured  by  insects,  yet  a  sufficient  proportion 
of  them  remained  so  uninjured  that  I  was  perfectly  satisfied, 
and  could  venture  with  the  utmost  confidence  to  make  my 
preparation  for  another  journey.  I  was  able  to  distribute 
a  good  number  of  presents  of  garments,  pistols,  and  guns 
amongst  the  controllers  of  the  various  Seribas,  whose  ac- 
quaintance I  had  made,  while  the  replenishing  of  my  store 
of  beads  and  stuffs  gave  me  an  opportunity  of  making  cer- 
tain acknowledgments  of  the  good  offices  of  my  attendants. 
But  the  services  which  Mohammed  Aboo  Sammat  had  ren- 
dered me  were  far  larger  than  all,  and  for  these  I  had  no 
return  in  my  power  to  make. 

Furnished  thus  afresh  with  a  number  of  conveniences  and 
luxuries  which  the  interior  did  not  supply,  I  found  myself 
enjoying  an  amount  of  comfort  that  reminded  me  of  Europe, 
and  in  the  improvement  of  the  quality  of  my  daily  food  I 
almost  forgot  the  hardships  I  had  suffered. 

By  a  somewhat  circuitous  route  I  had  received  several 
cases  of  wine.  This  was  a  gift  which  was  especially  accept- 
able, as  being  redolent  of  my  distant  home.     That  of  which 


KUEKUR.  273 

I  had  dreamed  as  I  tarried  by  the  bauks  of  the  Nabambisso 
was  now  within  my  reach ;  it  was  no  longer  tantalizing  to 
think  of  the  "  mountain  port,"  for  I  had  not  only  my  bottle 
of  wine,  but  a  plentiful  supply  of  other  good  things  in  addi- 
tion; and  nothing  would  have  been  a  pleasanter  task  than 
to  be  able  to  entertain  some  lonely  traveller  like  myself 
whom  chance  might  have  thrown  across  my  path.  To  be 
able  to  open  a  bottle  of  wine  at  all  in  the  heart  of  Africa 
was  such  an  inexplicable  piece  of  luck  that  it  involuntarily 
brought  to  my  mind  the  revenge  of  the  gods  and  the  ring  of 
Polycrates,  and  to  say  the  truth  it  was  but  a  passing  pleasure. 

I  was  desirous  of  devoting  the  remainder  of  1870  to  the 
further  and  more  complete  investigation  of  the  Dyoor  and 
Bongo  lands.  With  this  intention  I  betook  myself  next 
to  the  Seriba  of  Doomookoo,  and  spent  the  first  half  of 
September  in  an  interesting  excursion  to  Kurkur,  a  district 
which,  if  ever  the  history  of  this  land  should  be  properly 
written,  will  have  a  claim  to  one  of  its  most  prominent 
chapters. 

Kurkur,  just  at  present  a  Seriba  of  Aboo  Guroon's,  twenty- 
eight  miles  to  the  W.S.W.  of  the  chief  Seriba  of  Ghattas,  is 
a  name  already  known,  having  been  mentioned  by  Petherick, 
who,  as  the  first  explorer  of  the  district,  in  1856,  had  esta- 
blished a  mart  somewhere  in  the  neighbourhood,  making 
it  the  extreme  point  to  which  he  advanced  in  his  search 
for  the  ivory  of  the  productive  region. 

Upon  my  route  I  crossed  and  re-crossed  a  number  of  small 
afifluents  which,  coming  westwards  from  Bongoland,  joined 
the  Dyoor.  I  gave,  however,  a  particular  attention  to  the 
course  of  the  Molmul,  which  hitherto  had  been  regarded 
merely  as  an  arm  of  the  Dyoor,  but  which  I  ascertained 
beyond  a  question  to  be  an  entirely  independent  stream.  1 
crossed  it  close  to  Doomookoo,  and  again  on  my  return  at 
another  place  eight  miles  further  to  the  north.  It  bears 
amonir  the  Bonoo  the  name  of  Mai. 


274  THE  HEART  OF  AFRICA. 

Between  Doomookoo  and  Kurkur  the  scenery  was  pretty 
and  undulated,  wooded  eminences  alternating  with  extensive 
tracts  of  cultivated  plain.  The  rises  in  the  ground  are  made 
by  low  ridges  of  hills  that  run  in  a  north-west  direction  on 
either  side  of  the  Nyedokoo,  an  affluent  of  the  Dyoor  that 
is  always  full  of  water.  I  looked  in  upon  two  little  Seribas 
belonging  to  Agahd,  called  Kehre  and  Neshirr,  and  just 
before  reaching  Kurkur  I  called  at  Nguddoo,  one  of  Kur- 
shook  Ali's  settlements.  The  various  territories  of  the 
different  traders  are  quite  confusing,  as  they  lie  scattered 
about  in  little  enclaves  like  the  petty  Thuringian  duke- 
doms in  Germany. 

The  present  Seriba  of  Kurkur  is  situated  in  a  flat  bushy 
region,  rich  in  every  variety  of  game.  I  was  told  that  the 
former  Seriba,  visited  by  Petherick,  stood  eight  miles  to 
the  south-west,  on  the  Legbe,  an  important  affluent  of  the 
Dyoor.  Twelve  miles  further  to  the  south,  and  parallel 
to  the  Legbe,  is  the  Lako,  which  is  another  tributary  of 
the  Dyoor. 

I  remained  at  Kurkur  for  three  days.  Whilst  I  was  there 
the  natives  killed  a  couple  of  giraffes.  The  controller  had 
in  his  possession  several  of  these  animals  alive,  which  had 
been  caught  in  the  neighbourhood,  and  for  which  he  hoped 
to  find  a  sale  at  Khartoom. 

The  spotted  hyaena  dogs  {Canis  pidus)  are  very  common 
in  this  region.  These  dangerous  animals  have  a  partiality 
for  the  steppes  and  open  brushwood,  and,  congregating  in 
herds,  hunt  down  the  smaller  antelopes,  especially  bush- 
bocks.  No  case  was  known  where  they  had  attempted  to 
attack  men.  Some  of  their  skins  are  most  brilliantly  marked, 
and  exhibit  such  a  combination  of  red,  white,  yellow,  and 
black  spots  that  the  hysena  dog  may  fairly  claim  to  be  the 
most  particoloured  of  all  mammalia.  I  saw  one  specimen 
in  the  Seriba  that  was  perfectly  tame,  requiring  no  other 
restraint  than  a  cord,  and  yielding  to  its  master  with  all 


DANGAH.  275 

the  docility  of  an  ordinary  dog.  This  fact  appears  to  cor- 
roborate the  assertion  of  Livingstone  (which,  however,  he 
makes  with  some  reserve,  not  having  personally  witnessed 
the  circumstance),  that  the  natives  of  the  Kalahari  Desert 
are  accustomed  to  break  in  this  animal  and  train  it  for  the 
chase. 

Twelve  miles  to  the  north  of  Kurkur  was  another  sub- 
'sidiary  Seriba,  belonging  to  Aboo  Gruroon,  and  called  Dangah, 
after  a  Bongo  chief  who  lived  there  at  the  time  when  Pethe- 
rick  was  in  the  country ;  another  surviving  chief  named 
Dyow,  also  mentioned  by  Petherick,  had  his  abode  five 
miles  further  to  the  west ;  he  came  to  pay  me  a  visit,  and 
retaining  the  recollection  of  the  condition  of  the  country 
under  an  earlier  aspect  now  passed  away,  he  made  the  usual 
lamentations  over  the  destitution  of  the  land  and  its  present 
deficiency  of  game. 

The  Nyedokoo,  enclosed  by  dense  jungles  of  bamboo, 
passes  close  to  Dangah,  and  in  the  rainy  season  is  about 
thirty  feet  wide  and  ten  feet  deep.  The  inmates  of  the 
Seriba  were  supplied  by  its  bright  and  sparkling  waters,  and 
I  rejoiced  at  having  an  opportunity  to  send  my  stock  of 
linen  that  it  might  be  properly  washed.  Of  the  forty  Seribas 
that  I  visited  I  saw  scarcely  more  than  three  that  were 
situated  in  immediate  proximity  to  running  water,  the 
supply  obtained  from  the  wells  being  generally  impure, 
besides  being  obtained  in  quantities  too  limited  to  be  of 
much  service  for  washing  clothes. 

The  Khartoomers  seem  to  have  a  very  wonderful  faculty 
for  picking  out  the  worst  possible  places  for  the  formation 
of  their  settlements.  Although  they  are  excellent  swimmers, 
they  are  so  accustomed  to  the  dust  and  dirt  of  their  own 
home  and  to  the  turbid  floods  of  their  beloved  Nile,  that 
even  here,  where  streams  are  so  abundant,  they,  have  a 
morbid  prejudice  against  all  pure  water  whatsoever.  They 
forget  that  the  waters  of  the  Nile  are  wholesome  in  sj)ite 


276  THE  HEART  OF  AFRICA. 

of  being  turbid,  and  make  no  distinction  between  them  and 
the  waters  of  the  noisome  swamps  of  Central  Africa ;  while 
they  heap  imprecations  upon  the  insalubrity  of  the  climate, 
which,  they  say,  gives  them  pestilence.,  guinea-worm,  fever, 
skin  disease,  syphilis,  and  small-pox,  they  take  no  pains  to 
avoid  the  very  spotg  which  are  the  primary  cause  of  all  their 
suffering. 

After  leaving  Dangah  I  turned  back  towards  the  east,  and, 
having  called  at  Agahd's  subsidiary  Seriba  Dubor  on  the 
way,  I  soon  re-entered  my  own  headquarters.  The  circuit  I 
had  thus  completed  was  about  sixty-five  miles. 

During  my  brief  absence  an  event  had  transpired  in 
Ghattas's  Seriba  that  had  alarmed  the  whole  community, 
and  which  furnished  a  topic  of  anxious  speculation  for  some 
weeks  to  come.  It  appeared  that  two  of  the  Nubian  soldiers 
belonging  to  the  Seriba  had  betaken  themselves  to  a  Dyoor 
smith  in  the  neighbourhood  for  the  purpose  of  getting  him 
to  forge  them  some  rings.  While  they  were  sitting  in  the 
smithy  quietly  watching  the  operations,  all  at  once  they 
were  surrounded  by  a  troop  of  Dinka  warriors,  who  were 
scouring  the  country.  The  sight  of  a  couple  of  unprotected 
"  Turks "  had  suggested  to  the  Dinka  the  idea  of  taking 
revenge  for  the  last  raid  that  they  had  suffered,  and  the 
unfortunate  victims  were  attacked,  cruelly  tortured  by  lance- 
wounds,  and  carried  back  dead  to  the  Seriba.  The  entire 
force  turned  out  to  punish  the  aggressors  if  they  could ;  but 
the  Dinka  had  had  so  good  a  start,  that  they  were  far  beyond 
pufsuit.  The  occurrence  gave  a  general  feeling  of  insecurity 
to  the  whole  Seriba;  the  people  wore  afraid  to  move  about 
unarmed,  and.  even  in  their  ordinary  domestic  engagements 
carried  their  guns  under  their  arms.  This  excessive  prudence 
on  their  part,  involving,  as  it  did,  a  large  increase  of  danger 
from  firearms,  was  far  from  agreeable  to  myself.  The  risk 
of  being  burnt  out  was  still  greater  than  it  had  previously 
been,  and  not  relishing  my  position  in  close  proximity  to  so 


A  NEW  PROTEGE.  277 

many  straw-huts,  I  was  anxious  to  set  up  ray  quarters  at 
some  little  distance  away;  but  Idrees,  the  controller,  de- 
clared that  he  should  have  to  answer  for  my  safety  with  his 
head,  and  would  not  permit  me  to  build  outside  the  palisade. 

On  the  15th  of  September  Mohammed  Aboo  Sammat 
passed  through  the  Seriba  on  his  way  to  the  river,  with  his 
store  of  ivory.  It  was  a  good  opportunity  for  me  to  send 
intelligence  of  myself  to  Europe;  and,  under  his  care,  my 
letters  were  despatched  by  the  speediest  route,  so  that  in  the 
course  of  five  months  they  were  in  the  hands  of  my  friends. 
A  fortnight  sufficed  for  the  indefatigable  Mohammed  to 
reach  the  Meshera,  start  off  his  boats  on  their  way  to  Khar- 
toom,  and  return  to  our  Seriba. 

Mohammed  upon  his  return  made  me  a  present  of  a  some- 
what uncommon  description.  On  his  way  through  the  forest 
of  Alwady  he  had  fallen  in  with  a  troop  of  elephants,  two  of 
which  had  been  killed  by  his  people,  one  of  them  being  a 
female  that  was  accompanied  by  her  still  sucking  calf.  The 
little  elephant  had  been  secured  and  attached  to  the  caravan, 
and  on  arriving  at  the  Seriba  was  introduced  to  my  quarters 
as  a  gift  to  myself.  I  was  in  possession  of  a  milch  cow,  and 
took  the  greatest  pains  to  cherish  my  new  protege  by  supply- 
ing it  with  large  quantities  of  milk ;  but  all  my  attention 
was  in  vain,  the  young  animal  had  been  so  weakened  by 
improper  or  insufficient  diet,  and  so  exhausted  by  the  forced 
marches,  that  no  subsequent  care  could  save  it,  and  in  a  few 
days  it  expired.  It  was  quite  touching  to  watch  the  poor 
helpless  creature  in  its  last  gasps.  Whoever  has  observed 
the  eye  of  the  elephant  will  remember  that,  in  spite  of  its 
smalluess  and  natural  short-sightedness,  it  exhibits  an  intel- 
ligence, almost  amounting  to  reason,  that  is  seen  in  no  other 
quadruped.  My  juvenile  specimen  had  already  begun  to 
display  the  instinctive  cleanliness  of  its  nature.  I  was  told 
that  on  its  journey  it  stopped  at  every  pool  and  spring  while 
it  pumped  up  the  water  with  its  trunk,  and  squirted  it,  as  if 

Vol.  II.— 20 


278  THE  HKART  OF  AFRICA. 

from  a  hose,  all  over  its  body  to  wash  ofif  the  dust  of  the 
road  and  the  mud  that  it  Iiad  contracted  in  crossing  the 
swamps. 

For  my  own  amusement  I  had  made  a  collection  of  several 
other  animals,  which  I  lodged  in  my  hut,  in  order  to  have 
them  under  constant  supervision  and  to  be  able  to  observe 
their  habits.  My  menagerie  contributed  very  much  to  the 
characteristic  features  of  my  hut.  Outside  were  tethered  my 
donkey  and  my  cow  ;  but  the  calf,  being  too  delicate  to  with- 
stand the  rain,  was  brought  in  at  nights,  and  fastened  to  the 
tall  scaffolding  which  supported  my  bed,  the  noxious  miasma 
during  the  rainy  period  making  it  desirable  for  every 
traveller  to  spend  his  hours  of  sleep  raised  as  much  as 
possible  above  the  level  of  the  ground.  Different  corners  of 
the  hut,  which  was  already  encumbered  with  every  variety  of 
furniture,  were  appropriated  to  my  dogs,  two  caracal  lynxes, 
a  ratel,  or  honey-badger,  and  a  zebra-ichneumon.  These 
creatures  lived  in  continual  feud,  and  did  not  show  the  least 
likelihood  of  becoming  "a  happy  family."  The  honey- 
badger  and  the  ichneumon  were  perhaps  the  most  amicable, 
but  even  they  were  continually  snapping  at  each  other ;  still 
they  iiever  came  into  any  mortal  conflict.  But  the  caracals 
were  utterly  implacable,  and  fought  most  savagely :  in  spitt, 
however,  of  their  general  faculty  of  self-defence,  one  of  them 
in  a  desperate  encounter  with  a  Bongo  dog  was  bitten  in  the 
throat  and  died  on  the  spot. 

I  had  brought  a  large  number  of  lances  and  of  bows  and 
arrows  from  the  Monbuttoo,  and  felt  inclined  not  only  to  try 
the  efficiency  of  the  weapons,  but  to  test  the  marksmanship 
of  the  representatives  of  the  various  tribes  that  were  in- 
cluded in  the  promiscuous  population  of  the  Seriba.  Accord- 
ingly more  than  once  I  set  up  one  of  the  Monbuttoo  shields 
as  a  target,  and  instituted  a  general  shooting-match.  Tikki- 
tikki  was  an  eminently  successful  shot,  the  grotesque  atti- 
tudes into  which  he  threw  himself  to  exhibit  his  dexterity 


WOUNDED  BY  AN  ARROW.  279 

ever  causing  a  great  diversion :  I  was,  in  fact,  quite  proud  of 
my  Pygmy,  and  his  reputation  was  so  bruited  about,  that 
many  Khartoomers  came  from  distant  Seribas  to  gratify 
their  curiosity  by  looking  at  him. 

One  evening  during  the  exercises  I  met  with  an  accident 
which  might  have  been  serious,  if  not  fatal,  in  its  conse- 
quences. An  iron  arrow  struck  my  forehead  and,  although 
it  only  slightly  grazed  the  skin,  the  pain  for  a  moment  was 
quite  agonizing ;  it  soon  passed  oflf,  however,  and  I  took  no 
further  notice  of  the  matter  than  applying  a  little  goulard- 
water ;  but,  according  to  my  ordinary  habit,  I  sat  up  writing 
until  late  into  the  night,  exposed  to  a  draught  at  the 
entrance  of  my  hut,  and  caught  a  cold  in  the  wound,  which 
became  exceedingly  inflamed.  When  I  woke  the  next 
morning  I  was  uuable  to  open  my  eyes,  and  on  lifting  up  my 
eyelids  with  my  fingers,  I  could  see  in  my  looking-glass  that 
my  whole  face  was  immensely  swollen.  Fearful  of  erysipelas, 
I  could  devise  nothing  better  than  wrapping  up  my  face  in 
calico  and  staying  patiently  in  bed.  On  the  third  day  I  had 
the  satisfaction  of  finding  that  the  inflammation  had  sub- 
sided, and  that  all  fear  of  danger  was  gone.  In  regions  such 
as  these  the  traveller  cannot  be  too  careful  in  his  treatment 
of  even  the  most  insignificant  wound.  Once  before  I  had 
experienced  something  of  the  sort  during  a  forced  march 
through  the  desert  about  Thebes  :  a  gnat  had  slightly  stung 
my  instep,  and  such  a  violent  inflammation  had  supervened 
that  I  had  been  obliged  to  keep  my  bed  for  several  days. 

The  proceeds  of  this  year's  cattle-raids  upon  the  Dinka 
had  been  exceedingly  large  ;  and  as  Ghattas's  company  had 
been  prevented  from  carrying  out  a  Niam-niam  campaign, 
they  had  been  able  to  concentrate  all  their  forces  for  plunder. 
The  captured  cattle,  under  the  charge  of  a  number  of  Dinka 
herdsmen,  had  been  installed  in  a  large  yard  set  apart  for 
the  purpose  close  to  the  Seriba.  There  was  consequently  no 
lack  of  mcMt,  and,  at  a  very  reduced  price,  I  was  allowed  to 


280  THE  HEART  OF  AFRICA. 

purchase  whatever  cattle  I  required  to  be  slauglitered  for 
myself  and  for  my  people. 

My  milch  cow  was  an  almost  invaluable  possession.  In 
spite  of  its  yield  of  milk  being  somewhat  meagre,  it  supplied 
me  for  eight  months  with  a  morning  draught,  and  in  the 
subsequent  season  of  necessity  its  contribution  to  my  daily 
diet  was  still  more  precious.  Half  the  cattle  sickened  with 
all  sorts  of  internal  disorders,  and  the  greater  proportion  of 
the  animals  that  were  slaughtered  would  not  much  longer 
have  endured  the  climate.  I  am  sure,  however,  that  notwith- 
standing the  fact  that  these  breeds  have  been  entirely 
unaccustomed  to  salt,  its  admixture  with  their  food  would 
infuse  new  life  and  vigour  into  them ;  nothing  but  this,  I 
feel  convinced,  kept  up  my  own  supply  of  milk  and  pre- 
vented my  cow  from  becoming  emaciated  ;  at  first  the  dose 
had  to  be  administered  by  force,  but  the  creature  not  only 
soon  became  accustomed  to  it,  but  would  run  after  me  for  a 
handful  of  salt,  like  a  lap-dog  for  its  sugar. 

During  the  rainy  season  of  1870  the  Dinka  cattle  were 
decimated  by  various  plagues,  and  the  district  of  the  Lao  was 
especially  ravaged,  old  Shol  losing  some  thousand  of  her 
stock.  The  most  common  of  these  cattle  plagues  was  called 
Atyeng  by  the  Dinka,  showing  itself  by  open  wounds  like 
lance-cuts  in  the  hoofs ;  sometimes  the  wounds  would  make 
their  appearance  on  the  tongue,  rendering  the  animal  in- 
capable of  grazing,  so  that  it  could  get  no  nourishment,  and 
sank  through  exhaustion.  Another  malady,  called  Abwott,  to 
which  only  the  cows  are  subject,  consists  of  a  swelling  which 
affects  the  uterus,  and  carries  them  off  in  a  night.  A  third, 
known  as  the  Odwangdwang,  appears  just  as  contagious,  though 
not  so  generally  fatal  as  the  two  former ;  the  animals  refuse 
their  food  for  forty-eight  hours,  but,  under  favourable  circum- 
stances, on  the  third  day  commence  grazing  again. 

The  Khareef  of  1870  terminated  on  the  21st  of  September, 
no  rain  falling  after  that  date.     A  heavy  fall  of  hail  occurred 


METEOROLOGICAL  NOTES.  281 

on  the  25th  of  August,  when  the  hailstones  were  as  large  as 
cherries;  this  was  the  only  time  that  I  remember  seeing 
hail  within  the  tropics,  although  in  May  1864,  when  I  was 
on  the  Egyptian  coast  of  the  Eed  Sea,  just  to  the  north  of 
the  tropic  of  Cancer,  I  witnessed  one  of  the  severest  hail- 
storms that  could  be  imagined. 

This  year's  rainy  season  was  remarkable  for  the  violence 
of  the  separate  storms,  but  also  for  the  small  number  of 
decidedly  wet  days ;  of  these  I  counted  ten  in  July,  twelve 
in  August,  and  ten  in  September,  the  number  altogether 
corresponding  very  nearly  to  what  I  had  recorded  in  the 
previous  year.  Nevertheless,  the  rainfall  was  so  great  that 
the  sorghum  in  all  the  low-lying  fields  rotted  in  the  ground ; 
the  condition  of  the  crops,  however,  was  equally  bad  in  all 
places  where  the  soil,  although  rocky,  was  sloping,  and  threw 
off  the  water  too  rapidly,  for  between  the  intervals  of  rain 
the  heat  of  the  sun  was  so  overpowering  that  the  corn  was 
parched  up  through  being  drained  of  moisture. 

By  reference  to  a  few  notes  that  I  saved  I  find  that  the  4th 
of  October,  in  a  meteorological  point  of  view,  was  an  important 
day,  as  being  the  date  on  which  the  wind  first  veered  round 
to  the  north-east.  I  cannot  speak  positively  as  to  the  date 
when  the  south  wind  had  first  set  in,  as  I  was  absent  amongst 
the  Niara-niam  and  Monbuttoo  at  the  time ;  but  my  impres- 
sion is  that  it  was  not  far  from  the  same  time  as  in  the  year 
before,  viz.,  the  16th  of  March ;  thus  the  entire  period  during 
which  the  south-west  winds  had  been  prevalent  was  seven 
months.  But  although  the  north-east  wind  had  thus  com- 
menced on  the  4th  of  October,  there  was  no  perceptible  fall 
in  the  temperature  until  the  20th  of  November ;  after  that 
the  thermometer  at  sunrise  stood  at  about  70°  Fahr. 

As  the  flora  at  this  season  presented  little  with  which  1 
was  not  already  familiar,  my  time  was  spent  very  much 
under  the  same  routine  as  in  the  previous  autumn ;  1  con- 
tinued my  occupations  of  measuring  the  natives,  studying 


282  THE  HEART  OF  AFRICA. 

their  diuiects,  collecting  insects,  preparing  skulls,  and  joining 
the  people  in  chase  of  small  birds.  But,  all  along,  I  did 
not  lose  sight  of  ray  projected  journey,  and  applied  all  the 
experience  I  had  gained  so  that  I  might  equip  myself  for 
renewing  my  wanderings  with  the  best  advantage.  My 
health  was  by  no  means  impaired,  but,  on  the  contrary,  I 
had  gained  fresh  vigour  in  the  pure  air  of  the  southern 
highlands,  where  I  had  undergone  more  fatigue  than  I  could 
have  previously  trusted  myself  to  encounter ;  I  came  to  the 
resolution,  therefore,  that  I  need  not  fear  to  accompany 
Ghattas's  next  expedition,  and  visit  the  central  portions  of 
the  Niam-niam  countries  that  were  still  unknown  to  me. 
The  journey  was  specially  attractive  to  me  as  promising  to 
enable  me  to  complete  my  exploration  of  the  hydrographical 
system  of  the  Gazelle,  taking  me  as  it  would  to  the  middle 
sections  of  those  rivers,  which,  indeed,  I  had  already  crossed, 
but  only  in  their  upper  and  their  lower  courses.  By  this 
means  I  indulged  the  hope  that,  under  favourable  circum- 
stances, I  might  be  able  once  for  all  to  settle  the  details  of  this 
particular  district  of  the  Nile  territory,  and  so  to  make  one 
contribution  more  towards  building  up  the  true  theory  which 
may  solve  the  complicated  problem  of  Central  Africa. 

Being  desirous  of  making  some  exchanges  and  effecting 
some  purchases  to  complete  my  supplies,  I  set  out  on  a  tour 
to  Kurshook  All's  head  Seriba,  with  which  I  was  already 
well  acquainted.  This  excursion  occupied  from  the  24th  of 
October  until  the  4th  of  November.  The  owner,  as  already 
mentioned,  had  been  sent  out  by  the  Egyptian  Government 
at  the  head  of  a  body  of  troops ;  but  before  reaching  the 
interior  he  had  succumbed  to  the  pestilential  climate  of  the 
Dinka,  and  had  been  succeeded  in  command  by  a  Turkish 
Aga,  who  had  accompanied  him  as  lieutenant,  and  who, 
having  broken  up  his  camp  in  the  Dinka  country,  had 
turned  farther  to  the  west. 

Credit  had  been  opened  for  me  in  all  the  establishments 


ACROSS  THE  DYOOE  AGAIN.  283 

of  the  Khartoomers,  and  not  only  were  the  magazines  of 
Kurshook  All's  Seriba  amply  supplied  with  stores,  but 
Khalil,  the  controller,  received  me  hospitably  and  rendered 
me  all  possible  service,  so  that  I  accomplished  my  business 
•  most  satisfactorily. 

The  little  trip  gave  me  another  opportunity  of  twice 
crossing  the  Dyoor,  and  thus,  by  taking  fresh  measurements, 
of  adding  to  the  information  I  had  already  gained  about  this 
important  river.  At  ten  o'clock  in  the  morning,  when  the 
atmosphere  was  at  a  temperature  just  under  80°  Fahr.,  the 
temperature  of  the  water  was  just  over  90°. 

The  passage  over  was  effected  in  a  ferry-boat  of  the  most 
wretched  description  ;  it  was  composed  of  nothing  more  than 
a  couple  of  hollow  stems  bound  together  by  ropes  and 
caulked  with  common  clay,  the  miserable  craft  demanding 
perpetual  vigilance  to  keep  it  afloat  at  all.  It  is  a  striking 
proof  of  the  unconquerable  indolence  of  the  Nubians  that 
during  their  fifteen  years'  residence  in  the  land,  although 
they  are  beyond  a  question  acquainted  with  the  art  of  ship- 
building, they  have  never  attempted  to  construct  an 
ordinary  boat  for  the  daily  passage  of  such  an  important 
river  as  this. 

The  aspect  of  the  vegetation  was  very  similar  to  that  of 
late  autumn  in  Europe.  Quite  recently  as  the  water  had 
left  the  steppes,  the  low  parts  of  them  were  already  begin- 
ning to  look  withered,  and  in  the  woods  the  trees  were 
rapidly  becoming  more  and  more  bare.  Amongst  smaller 
and  less  important  plants  I  found  a  considerable  number  of 
new  species,  which  either  had  previously  escaped  my  notice, 
or  which  probably  do  not  spring  up  until  after  the  receding 
of  the  waters. 

On  our  way  back  we  were  entertained  in  the  little  Seriba 
Dyoor  A  wet,  where  roasted  elephant-foot  constituted  the 
speciality  of  the  repast. 

Before    we    reached   Aboo   Guroon's   Seriba   a   ludicrous 


284  THE  HEART  OP  AFRICA. 

circumstance  occurred,  which  while  it  brought  out  afresli 
the  evidence  of  the  dastard  cowardice  of  my  Niam-niam 
interpreter  Gyabir,  who  had  made  such  an  outcry  when 
wounded  in  the  arm  by  the  A-Banga,  at  the  same  time 
exposed  me  to  the  risk  of  losing  one  of  my  invaluable* 
guns.  He  was  marching  along  in  the  rear  of  the  caravan 
when  a  number  of  Dyoor  chanced  to  come  across  his 
path  ;  mistaking  them  for  Dinka,  to  whom  they  bore  a 
very  decided  resemblance,  he  took  to  his  heels  and  made  his 
way  to  the  most  inaccessible  part  of  the  steppe,  where  he 
intended  to  remain  till  night  should  enable  him  to  escape 
unobserved.  Our  route  led  us  so  close  to  the  Dinka  terri- 
tory that  we  were  aware  no  one  could  wander  half  a  league 
away  without  being  in  imminent  peril  of  being  captured  ;  it 
was,  therefore,  with  no  small  concern  that  on  our  arrival  Ave 
discovered  that  Gyabir  was  missing.  We  could  only  con- 
jecture that  he  had  lost  his  way.  Aboo  Guroon  at  once 
despatched  his  black  soldiers  in  all  directions,  but  they 
returned  at  nio^ht  without  having  discovered  the  least  clue  to 
the  whereabouts  of  the  wanderer.  Early  next  morning, 
to  the  general  surprise,  Gyabir  made  his  appearance ;  he 
acknowledged  that  he  had  heard  the  shouts  of  the  men  who 
were  making  the  search  for  him,  but  that  he  could  not 
venture  to  quit  his  place  of  concealment,  because  he  was 
thoroughly  aware  that  if  by  any  misadventure  he  should  fall 
into  the  hands  of  the  Dinka,  being  a  Niam-niam,  he  could 
have  no  hope  of  finding  any  quarter. 

Whilst  her-e  I  received  sad  news  of  my  friend  Mohammed. 
On  his  way  back  from  the  Meshera  to  Sabby  he  had  hoped 
by  taking  a  short  cut  through  the  wilderness  to  avoid  all 
conflict  with  the  marauding  parties  of  his  enemy  Shereefee ; 
but,  in  spite  of  all  his  precautions,  his  antagonist  had  gained 
information  of  his  movements,  and,  setting  an  ambush  in  the 
forest,  made  a  murderous  attack  upon  him.  The  assault  was 
fur  more  sanguinary  in  its  results  than  that  of  the  previous 


MOHAMMED  AGAIN  WOUNDED.  285 

year.  As  usual  the  Khartoomers  refused  to  fire  upon  their 
compatriots,  and  Mohammed  was  thus  entirely  dependent 
for  his  protection  upon  his  black  spearmen,  of  whom  several 
were  killed.  Mohammed's  cousin,  who  had  brought  the 
stores  from  Khartoom,  fell  a  victim  to  a  gun-shot  quite  at 
the  beginning  of  the  fray,  and  Mohammed  himself  received 
so  many  sabre  cuts  about  his  face  and  head  that,  deluged 
in  blood,  he  was  left  on  the  ground  for  dead.  Shereefee's 
Bongo  pursued  Mohammed's  Bongo  in  all  directions,  and 
Blohammed's  stores  all  became  the  spoil  of  Shereefee,  who 
did  not  as  before  scatter  the  beads  and  valuables  about  the 
ground,  but  had  everything  conveyed  to  his  own  Seriba. 
The  booty  amounted  in  all  to  at  least  two  hundred  packages. 
The  shameless  marauder  made  an  avowed  boast  of  his 
achievements,  ostentatiously  displayed  his  ill-gotten  wealth 
to  all  around  him,  and  even  strutted  about  arrayed  in 
Mohammed's  new  clothes. 

In  the  course  of  the  night  Mohammed  was  picked  up, 
apparently  lifeless,  by  his  faithful  blacks  and  carried  to 
Sabby,  where  he  received  every  due  attention,  but  it  was 
some  weeks  before  he  was  sufficiently  recovered  to  write  an 
account  of  his  misfortunes,  which  he  despatched  to  the 
I'riendly  Seribas,  sending  it  by  witnesses  who  could  explain 
the  true  condition  of  affairs. 

These  events  naturally  excited  the  utmost  indignation  in 
the  Seribas,  all  the  controllers  of  which  were  friendly  and 
well-disposed  towards  Mohammed.  The  slave-traders,  on 
the  contrary,  who  had  settled  in  the  country,  smd  all  their 
adherents,  took  the  part  of  Shereefee.  That  a  Mussulman, 
on  a  peaceful  journey,  should  be  the  subject  of  a  premeditated 
attack  by  one  of  his  own  faith,  was  a  circumstance  without 
a  precedent  even  in  this  land  of  violence  and  club-law  ;  but, 
what  most  provoked  my  own  anger  and  disgust  was  the  cool 
indifference  with  which  the  commander  of  the  Egyptian 
troops  (the   lieutenant  who   had   succeeded  Kursliook  Ah) 


286  THE  HEART  OF  AFRICA. 

viewed  the  whole  affair.  When  Mohammed  appeared  in 
camp  and  demanded  that  retributive  justice  should  be 
exacted  for  the  ill-treatment  and  loss  that  he  had  sustained, 
the  commander  endeavoured  to  throw  doubts  upon  all  his 
statements,  and  did  not  hesitate,  in  spite  of  the  testimony  of 
all  the  witnesses,  to  shield  Shereefee,  by  whom,  no  doubt,  he 
had  been  previously  bribed.  Who  shall  say  what  order  or 
justice  is  to  be  expected  in  this  land  of  license,  when  even 
the  Government  official,  sent  out  as  the  first  representative 
of  the  State  to  protect  and  administer  its  laws,  could  proceed 
to  such  a  degree  of  avaricious  partiality  ?  And  yet  the 
people  in  Khartoom  have  the  audacity  to  descant  upon  "  the 
suppression  of  the  slave-trade  !  " 

Aboo  (xuroon,  with  whom  I  spent  several  pleasant  days, 
was  busy  from  morning  to  night  in  his  preparations  for  the 
forthcoming  Niam-niam  campaign,  and  it  afforded  me  much 
amusement  to  watch  him  as  he  sorted  out  and  packed  his 
varied  store  of  ammunition.  Several  companies  had  com- 
bined for  the  expedition,  and  he  invited  me  to  remain  and 
start  with  him,  as  Ghattas's  party,  to  which  I  was  attached, 
would  not  follow  for  some  weeks  later. 

In  this  common  enterprise  Aboo  Guroon  had  a  special 
interest  of  his  own,  having  but  a  short  time  since  lost  one  of 
his  Seribas  in  the  Niam-niam  land.  The  garrison  had  been 
massacred,  and  all  the  arms  and  ammunition  had  fallen  into 
the  hands  of  the  sons  of  Ezo,  who  having  got  possession  of 
the  weapons  turned  them  to  such  good  account  that  they 
inspired  the  Nubians  with  great  respect  for  their  military 
skill.  These  events  had  taken  place  to  the  west  of  my 
Niam-niam  route,  and  had  an  indirect  connection  with  the 
proceedings  taken  against  Mohammed  by  Mbeeoh,  who  had 
been  surprised  by  Aboo  Guroon's  company  in  the  same  way 
as  the  combined  companies  of  Ghattas  and  Aboo  Sammat. 
The  scene  of  war  had  merely  been  transferred  from  Mbeeoh's 
territory  to  that  of  the  sons  of  Tombo  and  Ezo. 


IVOKY  EXPEDITIONS.  287 

Although  I  should  have  much  preferred  to  travel  in  com- 
pany with  Aboo  Guroon  rather  than  with  Ghattas's  agent, 
there  was  one  insuperable  impediment:  my  baggage  was 
not  ready,  and  it  woyld  require  some  little  time  to  select 
the  articles  that  would  be  of  most  practical  use  to  me  as 
well  as  what  would  involve  me  in  the  smallest  outlay  for 
bearers.  I  was  obliged,  therefore,  to  forego  Aboo  G.uroon's 
offer.  If  I  had  joined  him  I  should  have  escaped  the 
calamity  of  fire  from  which  I  soon  afterwards  suffered  so 
severe  a  loss,  but  perhaps  only  to  share  a  worse  fate,  for 
Aboo  Guroon  was  one  of  the  first  victims  of  an  engage- 
ment with  the  Niam-niam,  a  very  few  days  after  he 
set  out. 

Just  at  this  time  all  the  controllers  of  the  different  Seribas 
were  actively  engaged  lq  preparing  for  their  combined  and 
extensive  ivory  expedition.  With  their  aggregated  forces 
they  hoped  to  subdue  the  refractory  chieftains  in  the  north, 
who  had  been  guilty  of  much  treachery  towards  the  Nubians : 
their  primary  proceedings  were  to  be  taken  against  Ndoruma, 
the  daring  son  of  Ezo. 

It  had  been  the  rapid  diminution  of  the  ivory  in  these 
districts  that  had  caused  the  Khartoomers  of  late  to  direct 
their  expeditions  to  the  territories  of  the  powerful  kings  of 
the  south,  leaving  the  smaller  chieftains  with  a  comparatively 
insignificant  interest  in  the  traffic.  These  chieftains,  there- 
fore, did  all  in  their  power  to  obstruct  the  progi-ess  of  the 
Nubians,  and  endeavoured  by  foul  means,  instead  of  by  fair, 
to  obtain  a  share  of  the  copper  which  they  coveted.  They 
commenced  a  system  of  hostility  to  get  possession  of  the 
store  of  metal  which,  as  long  as  they  had  ivory  to  dispose  of, 
had  come  to  them  in  the  peaceful  way  of  commerce.  To 
the  dismay  of  the  Khartoomers,  the  natives  soon  showed 
that  they  were  quite  capable  of  putting  whatever  firearms 
they  captured  to  a  formidable  use,  and  I  shall  very  soon 
have  to  relate  how  completely  all  the  Niam-niam  expeditions 


288  THE  HEART  OF  AFRICA. 

came  to  grief  in  consequence  of  the  vigorous  opposition  of 
the  natives. 

Meanwhile  I  was  fully  occupied  by  my  preparation  for  the 
long  journey  before  me.  My  anticipations  were  not  to  be 
lealised.  Just  at  the  time  when  I  was  rejoicing  that  my 
health  had  braved  all  the  perils  of  the  climate  and  my  good 
fortune  seemed  to  be  at  its  height,  I  was  doomed  to  drink  of 
that  bitter  cup  of  disappointment  from  which  none  of  my 
predecessors  in  Central  Africa  have  been  exempt. 


CHAPTEE   XX. 

A  disastrous  day.  Failure  to  rescue  my  effects.  Burnt  Seriba  by  night.  Com- 
fortless bed.  A  wintry  aspect.  Rebuilding  the  Seriba.  Cause  of  the  tire. 
Idrees's  apathy.  An  exceptionally  wet  day.  Bad  news  of  Niam-niam  ex- 
pedition. Pleasuring  distance  by  footsteps.  Start  to  the  Dyoor.  Khalil's 
kind  reception.  A  restricted  wardrobe.  Temperature  at  its  minimum. 
Com  requisitions  of  Egyptian  troops.  Slave  trade  carried  on  by  soldiers. 
Suggestions  for  improved  transport.  Chinese  hand-barrows.  Defeat  of 
Khartoomers  by  Ndoruma.  Nubians'  fear  of  bullets.  A  lion  shot.  Noc- 
turnal disturbance.  Measurements  of  the  river  Dyoor.  Hippopotamus 
hunt.  Habits  of  hippopotamus.  Hippopotamus  fat.  Nile  whips.  Recovery 
of  a  manuscript.  Character  of  the  Nubians.  Nubian  superstitions.  Strife 
in  the  Egyptian  camp. 

The  description  which  has  already  been  given  of  the  large 
establishment  owned  by  the  firm  of  Ghattas,  where,  with  all 
my  provisions,  I  was  now  awaiting  the  start  of  the  caravan, 
must  have  made  the  place  in  a  large  degree  familiar  to  the 
reader.  For  the  clearer  apprehension  of  the  event  I  have  now 
to  relate  it  may  be  advisable  to  repeat  the  following  par- 
ticulars. The  colony  consisted  of  about  six  hundred  huts  and 
sheds,  which  were  built  almost  entirely  of  straw  and  bamboo. 
In  the  intervals  between  the  huts  were  erected  the  large 
sun-screens  known  as  "rokooba,"  which  w^ere  made  of  the 
same  materials ;  ■  and,  to  separate  allotment  from  allotment, 
tnere  were  long  lines  of  fences,  which  were  likewise  com- 
posed of  straw,  and  these  were  arranged  so  close  to  each 
.  other  that  they  scarcely  admitted  the  narrowest  of  passages, 
perhaps  but  a  few  feet  across,  to  run  between  them.  Every- 
thing that  human  ingenuity  could  contrive  seemed  to  have 
been  done  to  insure  that,  with  the  cessation  of  the  rainy 


290  THE  HEART  OF  AFRICA 

season  there  should  commence  a  period  of  the  extremest 
peril,  and,  for  myself,  1  can  avow  that  fear  of  fire  became 
my  bugbear  by  day  and  my  terror  by  night.  In  spite  of  my 
remonstrances  I  saw  the  crowding  together  of  the  huts  con- 
tinually become  more  and  more  dense,  and  the  enclosure 
packed  full  to  the  utmost  limits  of  its  capacity.  It  became 
a  manifest  impossibility  in  the  case  of  the  occurrence  of  fire, 
on  however  small  a  scale,  to  prevent  it  spreading  into  such 
a  conflagration  that  the  safety  of  the  whole  establishment 
must  be  imperilled.  The  material  of  the  structures,  dried 
in  the  tropical  heat,  would  accelerate  and  insure  the  devas- 
tation that  must  necessarily  ensue. 

The  catastrophe,  which  I  had  dreaded  with  such  ominous 
apprehension,  befell  us  at  midday  on  the  1st  of  December. 

This  most  disastrous  day  of  my  life  had  opened  in  the 
accustomed  carrying  out  of  its  routine.  I  had  been  engaged 
all  the  morning  with  my  correspondence  and  in  arranging 
the  notes  of  the  various  occurrences  that  had  transpired  since 
the  despatch  of  my  previous  budget.  I  had  partaken  of  my 
frugal  midday  meal,  and  was  just  on  the  point  of  resuming 
ray  writing,  when  all  at  once  I  caught  the  sound  of  the 
excited  Bongo  shrieking  out  "  poddu,  poddu "  (fire,  fire !) 
Long,  how  long  none  can  tell,  will  the  memory  of  this  burst 
of  alarm  haunt  my  ear.  It  makes  me  shudder  even  now. 
Eager  to  know  the  truth,  and  to  ascertain  how  far  the  ill- 
omened  apparition  of  misfortune  had  already  spread,  I 
rushed  to  the  doorway  of  my  hut,  and  beheld  that  the 
devouring  element  was  doing  its  work  at  a  distance  of  only 
three  huts  from  my  own ;  the  flame  was  rising  fiercely  from 
the  top  of  a  hut ;  there  was  no  room  for  hope ;  just  at  that 
time  of  day  the  north-east  wind  always  blew  with  its  greatest 
violence,  and  it  was  only  too  plain  that  the  direction  of  the 
gale  was  bringing  the  fire  straight  towards  my  residence. 
The  space  of  a  few  minutes  was  all  that  remained  for  me  to 
rescue  what  I  could. 


MY  DISASTER.  291 

Without  an  instant's  delay,  my  people  flocked  to  the  scene 
of  the  alarm.  Without  stopping  to  discuss  what  was  most 
prudent  or  to  cousider  what  was  most  valuable,  they  laid 
hold  upon  anything  that  came  to  hand.  The  negro-boys 
took  particular  care  of  all  the  stuffs,  and  of  their  own  clothes 
as  being  of  the  greatest  consequence  in  their  estimation,  and 
by  their  means  all  my  bedding  and  two  of  my  leathern  port- 
manteaus were  carried  safely  out  of  the  Seriba.  I  myself 
flung  my  manuscript  into  a  great  chest  which  had  already 
been  provided  against  any  accident  of  the  sort,  but  my  care 
was  of  no  avail.  My  servants  succeeded  in  hastily  conveying 
five  of  my  largest  boxes  and  two  cases  to  the  open  space  of  the 
Seriba  >vhere  the  direction  of  the  wind  made  us  presume 
they  would  be  out  of  danger ;  but  we  only  too  soon  learnt 
our  mistake ;  the  wind  chopped  and  veered  about,  and  the 
hot  blasts  fanned  the  flames  in  every  direction  till  there  was 
hardly  a  place  to  stand,  and  it  was  hopeless  to  reckon  upon 
any  more  salvage.  A  prompt  retreat  became  absolutely 
necessary ;  great  masses  of  burning  straw  began  to  fall  in 
every  quarter,  and  the  high  fences  of  straw  left  but  narrow 
avenues  by  which  we  could  escape.  The  flames  sometimes 
seemed  to  rise  to  a  height  of  a  hundred  feet  above  the  com- 
bustible structures  of  dry  grass,  and  then  all  at  once  they 
would  descend,  but  only  to  lick  with  destructive  fury  some 
adjacent  spot,  while  a  perpetual  shower  of  hot  sparks  glared 
again  in  the  roaring  air.  The  crowds,  as  they  rushed  away 
before  the  advancing  flames,  were  like  a  swarm  of  flies 
buzzing  around  a  lighted  torch.  I  cast  a  look  towards  the 
remnant  of  my  property  which  we  had  thought  we  had 
rescued,  and  to  my  horror  I  perceived  that  the  chests 
were  enveloped  in  smoke,  and  immediately  afterwards  were 
encircled  by  the  flames.  It  was  a  moment  of  despair. 
How  my  heart  sank  at  the  sight  none  can  imagine,  for 
those  chests  contained  all  my  manuscripts,  journals,  and 
records,  in  comparison  with  which  the  loss  of  all  the  efiects 


292  THE  HEABT  OF  AFRICA. 

in  mv  luit  appeared  utterly  insignificant,  though  they  were 
the  burdens  of  a  hundred  bearers.  Eegardless  of  the  shower 
of  sparks,  which  singed  off  my  very  hair,  I  made  a  frantic 
rush  forwards,  the  dogs,  with  their  feet  all  scorched,  howling 
at  my  side,  and  breathlessly  stopped  under  a  tree,  where  I 
found  a  shelter  alike  from  the  raging  of  the  ardent  flame 
and  from  the  noonday  glare.  In  the  confusion  of  the  flight 
I  had  been  unable  to  get  my  hat,  and  was  thus  fully  exposed 
to  the  midday  heat. 

Below  us  from  amidst  the  crackling  waves  of  fire  came 
the  crashing  noise  of  the  roofs  as  they  collapsed,  and  ever 
and  again  there  broke  forth  the  louder  report  caused  by  the 
explosion  of  our  ammunition,  and  many  a  loaded  gun  that 
had  been  left  behind  discharged  itself  and  exposed  the  fugi- 
tives to  a  new  and  random  danger.  The  Nubians  behaved 
themselves  with  a  strange  composure,  not  to  say  indifference  ; 
the  majority  had  little  or  nothing  to  lose,  yet  many  an 
account-book  must  have  perished  in  the  flames,  so  that  not  a 
few  of  them  hoped  to  turn  the  disaster  to  a  profitable  ac- 
count. The  priests,  however,  were  not  quite  so  unmoved ; 
they  stood  before  their  doors  and  howled  out  the  shrieking 
I'ormulai  of  their  incantations,  by  which  they  pretended  to 
control  the  course  of  the  raging  fire.  It  was  very  remarkable 
that  the  spot  where  a  Faki  had  been  buried,  and  which  was 
marked  with  a  white  banner  to  distinguish  it  as  a  place  for 
prayer,  was  spared  from  the  general  conflagration,  although 
it  was  within  a  few  yards  of  where  my  burnt  chests  had  been 
laid.  The  departed  Faki  was  now  as  good  as  a  canonised 
saint,  and  had  proved  himself  a  genuine  sheikh. 

The  entire  Seriba  by  this  time  was  wrapped  in  flames, 
which  seemed  still  to  spread  in  every  quarter.  The  wind,  as 
it  rose,  carried  away  with  it  whole  bundles  of  smouldering 
straw,  which  it  soon  fanned  into  fire  amidst  the  huts  that 
were  scattered  round  on  the  exterior  of  the  palisade. 

Very  dry  at  this   season,  the   steppe  had  hitherto  been 


THE  EESIDUE  OF  MY  EFFECTS.  293 

preserved,  because  the  harvest  was  not  yet  complete,  and  it 
was  not  very  long  before  this  too  was  caught  by  the  raging 
fire,  and  even  the  old  trees  around  did  not  escape,  so  that  it 
seemed  almost  as  if  the  whole  district  were  being  submerged 
in  a  sea  of  flame.  Half  an  hour  had  completed  the  great 
work  of  devastation.  After  that  period  it  was  possible  to 
make  a  dash  between  the  charred  posts  of  the  huts,  but  only 
for  a  few  moments,  so  intense  was  the  heat  of  the  ground 
and  so  overpowering  the  glowing  atmosphere  that  pervaded 
the  scene  of  destruction.  A  crowd  of  people  kept  on  bringing 
vessels  of  water^to  try  and  extinguish  the  flames  before  they 
had  totally  destroyed  the  clay  "  googahs  "  which  held  the 
sole  supply  of  corn. 

After  a  while  I  succeeded  in  getting  to  my  garden,  wliich, 
bereft  of  the  greater  part  of  its  recently-constructed  hedge 
of  bamboo,  presented  a  truly  melancholy  aspect.  As  the 
sun  sank  low  we  began  to  make  a  search  for  anything  that 
might  have  been  spared  amidst  the  still  glowing  embers  of 
the  huts.  I  had  saved  little  beyond  my  life.  I  had  lost  all 
my  clothes,  my  guns,  and  the  best  part  of  my  instruments. 
I  was  without  tea  and  without  quinine.  As  I  stood  gazing 
upon  the  piles  of  ashes  I  could  not  help  reckoning  up  the 
accumulation  of  my  labours  which  had  there,  beneath  them 
all,  been  buried  in  this  hapless  destiny.  All  my  preparations 
for  the  projected  expedition  to  the  Niam-niam ;  all  the 
produce  of  my  recent  journey  ;  all  the  entomological  collec- 
tion that  I  had  made  with  such  constant  interest ;  all  the 
examples  of  native  industry  which  I  had  procured  by  so 
much  care ;  all  my  registers  of  meteorological  events  which 
had  been  kept  day  by  day  and  without  interruption  ever 
since  my  first  departure  from  Suakin,  and  in  which  1  had 
inscribed  some  7000  barometrical  observations;  all  my 
ournals,  with  their  detailed  narrative  of  the  transactions  of 
825  days;  all  my  elaborate  measurements  of  the  bodies  of 
the  natives,  which  I  had  been  at  so  much  pains  and  expense 
Vol.  II.— 21 


294  THE  HEART  OF  AFRICA. 

to  induce  them  to  permit ;  all  my  vocabularies,  which  it  had 
been  so  tedious  a  business  to  compile;  everything,  in  the 
course  of  a  single  hour ;  everything  was  gone,  the  plunder  of 
the  flames.  It  had  b.een  for  the  sake  of  belter  protection,  as 
I  thought,  that  I  had  resolved  not  to  part  with  my  journals, 
and  had  kept  my  collection  of  insects  in  my  own  possession ; 
I  had  been  afraid  of  any  misadventure  befalling  them ;  but 
now  they  might  just  as  well  have  been  at  the  bottom  of  the 
Nile. 

There  1  sat  amongst  my  tobacco-shrubs  upon  my  stock  of 
bedding  that  had  been  rescued  from  the  flames ;  but  I  fear 
that  I  could  not  boast  of  overmuch  of  the  spirit  of  resigna- 
tion. The  entire  remnant  of  my  property  was  soon  reckoned 
up ;  it  consisted  of  a  couple  of  chests,  my  three  barometers, 
an  azimuth-compass,  and  the  ironwork  which  survived  from 
the  different  productions  of  the  Niam-niam  and  Monbuttoo. 

Evening  drew  on:  just  as  usual,  the  cow  with  her  calf 
came  and  provided  me  with  two  glasses  of  milk.  I  had  a  yam 
or  two,  a  picking  from  the  inside  of  a  half- burnt  tuber,  a 
morsel  from  a  similarly  half-burnt  lump  of  pickled  meat, 
and  I  had  come  to  the  end  of  my  slender  stock  of  provisions. 
My  dogs  kept  up  a  continual  howling ;  their  sufferings  from 
their  burnt  feet  must  have  been  excessive,  and  they  whined 
in  concert  with  the  general  desolation.  The  servants, 
however,  were  as  calm  and  undisturbed  as  usual.  Neither  the 
Nubians  nor  the  negroes  seemed  to  be  much  concerned ;  and 
why  should  they  ?     They  had  just  nothing  to  lose. 

I  looked  around  and  counted  up  my  party.  It  consisted 
of  seven  bipeds  and  seven  quadrupeds ;  the  same  number  of 
each,  and  each  of  about  the  same  sensibility. 

When  the  darkness  of  night  had  really  set  in,  the  region 
of  the  Seriba  had  all  the  aspect  of  an  active  colliery.  The 
venerable  fig-tree  in  front  of  the  main  entrance  was  still 
flaring  away,  and  the  palisade  was  yet  burning,  apparently 
^h^tting  in  the  scene  of  ruin  with  a  garland  of  light.     It  was 


DESOLATION.  295 

a  ghastly  illumination.  To  the  Nubians  tlie  spectacle  was 
not  altogether  a  novelty.  The  sight  of  a  negro  village  in 
flames  was  to  them  familiar  enough ;  but  now  the  tables  were 
turned,  and  they  had  to  learn  for  themselves  what  it  is  to  be 
hungry  and  destitute  of  every  prospect  of  supply.  Such 
were  the  conditions  under  which  that  night  we  had  to  seek 
our  rest. 

Hardly  anything  could  be  more  impressive  than  the  scene 
that  revealed  itself  on  the  following  morning.  Not  merely 
the  places  where  the  fire  had  raged,  but  the  regions  around 
were  strewn  with  a  thick  layer  of  ashes;  the  steppes  and 
sorghum-fields  were  whitened  with  them.  It  would  be  easy 
to  have  imagined  that  the  glowing  green  of  the  tropics  had 
for  a  time  retreated,  and  allowed  itself  to  be  replaced  by  a 
gloomy  and  wintry  vegetation  transported  from  the  arctic 
zone.  Almost  as  white  as  snow  were  the  layers  of  ashes  that 
had  settled  on  the  sorghum-fields,  only  broken  by  the  heaps 
of  half-burnt  clods  that  rose  like  hillocks  of  turf  upon  a 
moor.  The  smoke  still  lingered  on  the  ground,  and  veiled 
the  general  scene ;  the  trees  seemed  to  stretch  out  their  dry 
bare  arms  to  heaven,  and  helped  to  complete  the  resemblance 
to  the  winterly  aspect  of  th6  frozen  world. 

It  was  a  pitiful  sight  to  watch  the  brown  and  swarthy 
figures  of  the  negroes,  wrapped  in  their  brown  and  swarthy 
rags,  run  hither  and  thither  amongst  the  still  smouldering 
ruins ;  and  the  wretchedness  of  the  view  was  not  a  little 
aggravated  by  the  bloated  carcases  of  half-roasted  donkeys 
and  sheep  that  lay  scattered  about  in  various  parts.  Troops 
of  women  were  bustling  about  and  carrying  water- vessels  of 
every  sort,  eager  in  their  endeavours  to  put  out  the  lurking 
fire  that  was  threatening  the  corn-magazines  that  hitherto 
had  escaped.  These  clay-built  reservoirs  of  corn  were  the 
only  memorials  that  seemed  to  survive  the  devastation. 
Blackened  indeed  by  the  smoke,  the  "googahs"  were  still 
erect.     Varying  in  height  from  five  feet  to  seven,  they  were 


296  THE  HEAET  OF  AFKICA. 

liardly  ever  vvauting  iu  the  homes  either  of  the  Dyoor  or 
Dinka :  and  now  as  they  stood  surmounting  the  otlier- 
wise  universal  debris,  their  very  numbers  made  them  con- 
spicuous, and,  forming  a  fantastic  feature  in  the  scene,  gave 
their  testimony  as  to  what  had  been  the  crowded  proximity 
of  hut  to  hut. 

Hurrying  up  from  the  surrounding  country,  the  natives 
flocked  to  search  for  beads  amidst  the  ruins,  although  every 
bead  must  necessarily  have  been  spoilt.  Others  of  them, 
with  a  better  purpose,  set  to  work  to  construct  sheds  of 
straw  for  the  shelter  of  the  houseless. 

The  next  day  was  opened  with  a  general  effort  to  restore 
the  buildings  of  the  Seriba.  Hundreds  of  Bongo,  Dyoor, 
and  Dinka  brought  the  necessary  wood,  straw,  and  bamboos, 
and  proceeded  to  construct  their  new  huts  with  much  dex- 
terity :  on  an  average,  six  men  would  completely  finish  a 
hut  twenty  feet  in  diameter  in  a  couple  of  days. 

No  common  sense  had  been  learnt  through  the  late 
calamity,  for  not  only  was  the  Seriba  erected  on  the  self- 
same spot,  but  in  the  selfsame  manner  as  before.  The  fear 
of  being  assassinated  by  the  Dinka  was  assigned  as  the 
reason  for  refusing  to  follow  the  example  of  Khalil,  the  con- 
troller of  Kurshook  Ali's  Seriba,  who,  in  rebuilding  his 
establishment,  had  insisted  upon  placing  the  Vokeel's  resi- 
dence and  the  magazines  alone  within  the  palisade,  leaving 
the  soldiers'  huts  in  detached  groups  outside.  In  vain,  day 
after  day,  did  I  repeat  my  warning  of  the  danger  they  were 
inviting  of  the  repetition  of  a  similar  misfortune  ;  but  all  my 
exhortations  to  care  and  prudence  were  utterly  wasted  ;  the 
people  were  obstinate,  and  I  could  not  help  passing  many  a 
sleepless  night  in  continual  dread  of  a  second  catastrophe 
that  I  was  aware  I  was  powerless  to  avert. 

The  cause  of  the  fire,  when  subsequently  discovered,  did 
not  give  me  the  least  surprise.  One  of  Grhattas's  soldiers 
had  been  quarrelling  with  his  slave,  having  accused  her  of 


ORIGIN  OF  THE  MISFORTUNE.  297 

unfaitbfaluess ;  and  in  order  to  frighten  her,  and  extort  a 
confession  of  her  guilt,  he  had  discharged  a  gun  into  the 
interior  of  his  hut.  I  afterwards  remembered  hearing  the 
report ;  as  gunshots,  however,  were  far  from  uncommon,  I 
paid  no  particular  attention  to  the  circumstance :  but  the 
smouldering  paper-cartridge  had  lodged  in  the  straw-roof, 
and  ten  minutes  later  the  hut  was  in  flames.  Although  the 
origin  of  the  fire  was  thus  easily  explained,  the  Mohammedan 
fatalists  never  swerved  from  their  belief  that  the  misfortune 
was  unavoidable,  and  was  ordained  by  the  decree  of  destiny. 

All  my  reproaches  failed  to  reach  the  real  offender,  who 
immediately  after  the  fire  quitted  the  scene  of  the  disaster 
he  had  brought  about.  But,  in  my  opinion,  Idrees,  the  con- 
troller, was  himself  primarily  responsible  for  all  the  trouble. 
He  allowed  a  senseless  firing  to  be  carried  on  inside  the 
Seriba,  not  only  at  every  new  moon,  but  on  a  hundred  other 
occasions,  and  I  was  in  a  perpetual  state  of  vexation  and 
anger  whenever  I  saw  the  lighted  wads  flying  about  amongst 
the  dry  straw-roofs :  then,  again,  he  allowed  each  person  to 
increase  the  number  of  his  huts,  rokoobas,  and  hedges,  just 
as  he  liked,  until  the  appearance  of  the  Seriba  was  that  of 
an  inexplicable  maze.  In  his  capacity  of  Vokeel  it  was 
undoubtedly  his  place  to  allot  a  proper  space  to  each  indivi- 
dual ;  but  so  far  from  seeing  that  this  was  legitimately  done, 
he  himself  did  his  utmost  to  increase  the  complication  of 
buildings,  and  had  erected  a  huge  rokooba  for  his  horse  just 
in  front  of  my  hut ;  it  was  this  very  rokooba  that  had  been 
the  means  of  communicating  the  flames  to  the  chests  con- 
taining my  manuscripts,  as  they  stood  on  a  portion  of  what, 
previously  to  its  erection,  had  been  a  wide  open  space. 

By  the  11th  of  December  some  newly-built  huts  were  at 
my  disposal,  a  place  of  security  on  that  day  proving  doubly 
welcome,  as  a  heavy  storm  of  rain  came  on  about  four 
o'clock  in  the  morning,  lasting  for  quite  half  an  hour.  This 
exceptional  storm  rose  from  the  south-east,  veered  round  to  the 


29S  THE  HEART  OF  AFRICA. 

south,  and  finally  passed  away  towards  the  south-west.  The 
entire  day  remained  cold  and  dull,  with  slight  showers  falling 
at  intervals.  For  the  first  time  the  temperature  fell  to 
65°  Falir.,  having  previously  varied  between  75°  and  80^. 
The  coldest  season  of  the  year  now  set  in,  and  lasted  for  a 
couple  of  months ;  during  this  time  the  thermometer  m  the 
early  morning  was  comparatively  low,  and  the  barometer 
varied  much  more  continually  than  in  the  height  of  the 
rainy  season. 

Bad  news  flies  apace,  and  following  close  upon  the 
destruction  of  the  Seriba  came  the  intelligence  of  the  total 
defeat  of  that  first  detachment  of  the  Niam-niam  expedition- 
that  had  been  despatched  to  the  south  ;  besides  a  number  of 
native  bearers,  150  Mohammedans  were  reported  to  have 
lost  their  lives. 

The  immediate  effect  of  these  disastrous  tidings  was  to 
make  me  know  that  all  hope  of  extending  my  wanderings 
in  that  direction  must  finally  be  abandoned.  Bitter  as  had 
been  the  misfortune  that  had  befallen  me,  it  would  not  of 
itself  have  deterred  me  from  my  project  of  a  second  Niam- 
niam  journey,  but,  now  that  Aboo  Guroon  was  killed,  there 
was  no  one  who  could  provide  me  afresh  with  such  articles 
as  I  had  lost.  I  possessed  neither  boots  nor  shoes,  guns  nor 
ammunition,  paper  nor  instruments,  and  even  my  watches, 
which  were  so  essential  to  me,  were  gone ;  what  use  then 
to  think  any  further  of  a  journey  to  unknown  countries 
under  such  circumstances  as  these  ?  Convinced  of  the 
vanity  of  any  attempt  to  proceed,  I  was  therefore  obliged, 
with  a  heavy  heart,  to  turn  my  thoughts  towards  Europe  ; 
no  succours  could  reach  me  for  more  than  a  year,  and  even 
then  my  great  distance  from  Egypt  made  their  safe  arrival 
more  than  doubtful. 

Still  more  than  six  months  remained  before  the  trading- 
boats  would  start  on  their  return  journey  down  the  Nile  ; 
I  felt  bound  to  employ  this  time  to  the  best  of  my  powers, 


FAREWELL  TO  THE  SEEIBA.  299 

and  I  was  not  long  left  to  make  up  my  mind  as  to  what  I 
would  do.  Amongst  the  few  of  my  effects  that  were  snatched 
from  the  flames  I  discovered  ink,  together  with  materials  for 
writing  and  drawing :  and  the  sight  of  some  sketches  that 
had  accidentally  been  rescued  with  my  bedding  first  roused 
me  from  my  feelings  of  total  despair,  and  told  me  tliat  I 
must  once  again  begin  to  collect  and  investigate,  and  pre- 
serve my  observations  by  means  of  pen  and  pencil.  Neces- 
sarily somewhat  depressed  in  spirits  I  once  again  turned 
to  as  many  of  my  former  pursuits  as  I  could,  although  I  felt 
the  increasing  pressure  of  poverty  and  hardship,  and  was  as 
dependent  as  a  beggar  upon  the  hospitality  of  the  Nubians, 
many  of  whom  viewed  my  presence  in  the  country  with 
suspicion  and  distrust.  My  present  discomfort  was  still 
further  aggravated  by  its  contrast  with  the  comparative  ease 
and  abundance  which  the  arrival  of  my  European  stores  had 
latterly  afforded  me. 

I  came  to  the  resolution  of  quitting  the  scene  of  my 
disaster,  and,  accompanied  by  my  servants,  determined  to 
withdraw  to  Kurshook  All's*  Seriba  beyond  the  Uyoor, 
where  I  knew  that  Khalil,  the  kind-hearted  controller, 
would  render  me  what  relief  he  could  under  my  present 
urgent  necessities,  although  the  amenities  of  life  to  which 
the  Nubians  had  any  pretension  were  very  few.  Accordingly 
on  the  16th  of  December,  followed  by  a  small  herd  of  cows, 
I  turned  my  back  upon  the  Seriba  that  had  arisen  from  the 
ashes  of  its  predecessor,  and  started  by  a  new  and  more 
southerly  route  for  my  intended  quarters. 

For  nearly  three  years  my  watches  had  gone  with 
remarkable  accuracy,  tliey  were  ordinary  Geneva  ancres 
perfecfionnees,  having  cost  about  twenty-five  thalers  a-piece ; 
their  loss  was  quite  irreparable,  for  the  Nubians  have  no 


*  The  Turkish  name  is  properly  pronounced  Kutshook  Aly,  but  I  give  the 
words  as  I  believe  they  are  more  generally  written. 


300  THE  HEART  OF  AFRICA. 

other  means  of  computing  time  than  upon  the  great  dial  of 
the  firmament,*  which  requires  no  winding  up,  and  they  tell 
the  hour  of  the  day  by  simply  observing  the  position  of  the 
sun  in  the  heavens.  The  only  resource  left  to  me  for  esti- 
mating the  distance  that  I  travelled  was  to  count  my  steps, 
and  in  my  despondency  over  my  losses  I  found  a  kind  of 
melancholy  satisfaction  in  the  performance  of  this  mono- 
tonous task,  which  probably  had  never  fallen  before  to  the 
lot  of  any  other  African  traveller.  My  patience,  however, 
was,  as  it  were,  an  anchor  of  safety  that  I  threw  out  after  my 
calamity:  I  seemed  to  myself  like  a  ship,  which,  though 
seaworthy  in  itself,  has  thrown  overboard  its  cargo  as  the 
only  hope  of  getting  into  port.  An  enthusiast  I  set  out, 
enraptured  with  nature  in  her  wildest  aspect,  and  an  enthu- 
siast should  I  have  remained,  had  not  the  fire  clipped  my 
wings ;  but  now,  helpless  on  the  inhospitable  soil  of  Africa, 
I  could  not  but  be  conscious  how  powerless  I  was  to  contend 
with  the  many  obstacles,  both  physical  and  material,  that 
beset  my  path;  but  in  the  place  of  enthusiasm,  patience, 
that  overcomes  all  misfortune,  came  to  my  aid,  did  me  good 
service,  and  kept  me  from  sinking. 

I  must  confess  that  the  first  few  days'  journey  threatened 
to  exhaust  what  spirit  still  remained  to  me,  but  by  degrees 
my  equanimity  was  restored,  and  persevering  in  my  design 
I  soon  became  accustomed  to  a  practice  to  which  I  owe  some 
of  the  most  reliable  results  of  the  survey  of  my  route.  As  a 
consequence  of  this  method  of  counting  my  steps  I  succeeded 
in  attaining  very  considerable  accuracy  in  the  relative  dis- 
tances noted  on  the  map,  although  very  probably  I  may 
have  been  unable  to  avoid  an  error  of  from  5  to  8  per  cent, 
in  the  absolute  distances  themselves ;  of  course,  my  steps 
were  not  so  perfectly  uniform  in  length  as  the  divisions  of  a 


*  The  negro  races  of  Central  Africa  also,  -without  any  notion  of  hours  as 
a  division  of  time,  are  able  to  indicate  the  time  of  day  by  the  same  method, 
which  for  the  eqiuooctial  regions  may  be  considered  quite  practical. 


A  PERAMBULATOR.'  301 

measuring  rod  ;  but,  after  all,  the  footsteps  of  a  man  are 
a  much  more  accurate  standard  of  measurement  than  those 
of  a  beast ;  the  camel,  for  instance,  as  is  well  known,  when  it 
is  urged  to  greater  speed  does  not  increase  the  number  of  its 
steps,  but  only  increases  their  length ;  whilst  the  paces  of  a 
man,  at  whatever  rate  he  may  walk,  do  not  vary  much  from 
an  average  length.  Anyone  may  easily  put  this  matter  to 
the  test  for  himself  by  measuring  the  distance  between  his 
footprints  on  the  moist  side  of  a  river,  and  he  will  find  that 
no  increase  nor  diminution  in  his  rate  of  progress  will  make 
a  very  material  difference  in  their  successive  distances.  My 
own  paces  varied,  according  to  the  nature  of  the  roads,  from 
two  feet  to  two  feet  four  inches  in  length,  and  my  method 
of  computation  is  readily  described.  I  first  counted  hundreds, 
telling  off  each  separate  hundred  on  my  fingers ;  when  I 
had  reached  five  hundred  I  made  a  stroke  in  my  note-book, 
and  on  reaching  another  five  hundred  I  made  a  reverse 
stroke  upon  the  one  already  made,  thus  forming  a  cross,  so 
that  every  registry  of  a  cross  betokened  a  thousand  paces ; 
all  beyond  five  hundred  were  carried  on  towards  the  next 
stroke,  and  between  the  various  strokes  and  crosses  I  inserted 
abbreviated  symbols,  as  notes  about  the  condition  and 
direction  of  the  road;  thus  I  was  prevented  from  either 
over  or  under  estimating  the  number  of  my  steps,  and  at  the 
close  of  each  day's  march  was  able  at  my  leisure  to  sum  up 
all  the  entries  and  duly  record  the  result  in  my  diary.  In 
the  six  months  that  elapsed  before  my  embarkation  at  the 
Meshera  I  had  in  this  way  taken  account  of  a  million  and  a 
quarter  of  my  footsteps. 

The  route  which  I  had  taken  towards  the  Dyoor  led 
through  Dubor  and  Dangah.  On  the  16th  of  December 
the  Molmul  was  still  full  of  water,  but  had  no  longer  any 
perceptible  current ;  the  brook  passed  along  a  considerable, 
though  gradual  depression,  the  rising  ground  about  Dubor 
being  visible  for  a  long  distance  to  the  west.     All  the  pools 


302  'JHE  HEART  OF  AFRICA. 

and  ponds  by  the  wayside  were  now  completely  dry ;  a  couple 
of  swamps  were  all  that  remained  of  the  affluent  to  which  the 
copious  brook  near  Okale,*  with  its  surrounding  groves  of 
wine-palms,  owes  its  existence.  The  Nyedokoo  was  reduced 
to  half  its  former  dimensions,  and  was  now  but  fifteen  feet 
wide  and  three  deep,  although  the  current  was  still  strong. 

Before  its  union  with  the  Dyoor,  the  Nyedokoo  receives 
a  considerable  increase  in  its  waters  from  the  left,  and  on 
our  way  north-west  from  Dangah  we  had  to  cross  two  small 
brooks,  both  flowing  into  the  Dyoor ;  the  larger  of  these  was 
called  the  KuUukungoo.  We  made  a  short  halt  in  a  little 
Seriba  belonging  to  Agahd's  company,  and  then  began  to 
descend  the  eastern  side  of  the  valley  of  the  Dyoor,  which 
might  be  described  as  a  steep  wall  of  rock  eighty  feet  in 
height.  We  marched  for  a  distance  of  four  miles  through  a 
lovely  wood  on  the  right  bank  of  the  river,  and  were  greatly 
diverted  by  the  extraordinary  quantity  of  hippopotamuses 
that  frequented  this  part  of  the  stream. 

I  had  the  kindest  of  receptions  from  my  old  friend  Khalil, 
who  did  all  that  lay  in  his  power  to  make  my  visit  enjoyable, 
and  showed  great  sympathy  with  me  in  my  misfortunes. 
His  magazines  were  plentifully  stored  with  stuffs  and  ammu- 
nition, and,  as  I  had  unlimited  credit  with  him,  he  was  able 
to  supply  me  with  some  of  the  articles  that  were  more 
immediately  necessary,  In  the  Seriba  I  found  some  people 
who  understood  something  of  the  art  of  tailoring,  and  with 
their  help  I  set  to  work,  to  the  best  of  my  ability,  to  make 
good  the  defects  of  my  wardrobe.  By  taking  to  pieces  the 
few  garments  that  remained  to  me  and  using  the  fragments 
for  patterns,  I  managed  to  procure  some  new  clothes,  all  of 
which  I  cut  out  myself.  In  none  of  the  Seribas  was  there  a 
single  piece  of  linen  or  of  any  durable  material,  and  I  could 
obtain  nothing  stronger  than  their  thin  calico,  which,  however 


Vide  Cliapter  V. 


COSTUME.  303 

well  it  might  do  for  the  costume  of  the  eflfeminate  Arabs, 
was  hardly  adapted  for  the  pursuits  of  a  hunter  aud  botanist 
who  spent  all  his  days  in  thorny  thickets.  But  a  still  more 
serious  inconvenience  was  the  want  of  any  proper  protection 
for  my  feet,  and  I  could  not  at  all  get  accustomed  to  wear- 
ing the  light  slippers  of  the  Turks.  The  loss,  too,  of  my  hat 
was  irreparable,  but  I  contrived,  a  sort  of  substitute  by 
pasting  together  some  thick  cartridge-paper  and  sewing 
some  white  stuff  over  the  whole  ;  this  hat  possessed  consider- 
able durability,  and  in  lightness  was  all  that  I  could  desire. 
In  spite  of  the  poverty  of  my  wardrobe  I  was  rejoiced  to 
find  that  in  cleanliness  at  least  it  was  a  match  for  that  of  the 
Khartoomers,  who  attach  great  importance  to  their  washing- 
garments  being  of  a  spotless  whiteness.  The  superiors 
amongst  them,  such  as  the  Vokeels  and  the  agents  of  the 
trading  firms,  even  in  these  remote  districts,  not  unfrequently 
appear  in  Oriental  costume  as  gorgeous  as  though  they  were 
paradiug  the  streets  of  Khartoom;  they  all  possess  cloth 
clothes  made  in  the  Egyptian  Mamelook  fashion,  and  these 
are  donned  on  special  occasions,  as,  for  instance,  whenever 
they  pay  formal  visits  to  their  neighbours.  For  my  own 
part  I  could  never  consent  to  array  myself  in  an  Oriental 
costume,  knowing  that  the  most  meagre  garb  of  European 
cut  commands  far  higher  respect  throughout  the  domains  of 
the  Egyptian  Viceroy  than  all  the  most  brilliant  and  elabo- 
rate uniforms  of  the  East.  The  adoption  of  the  European 
style  of  dress  in  Egypt  itself  has  been  remarkably  rapid, 
and  between  the  years  1863  and  1871  I  noticed  a  very  con- 
spicuous alteration  in  this  respect,  although  unfortunately 
the  advance  was  limited  to  this  external  aspect. 

The  25th  of  December  was  the  coldest  day  that  I  expe- 
rienced during  my  residence  in  the  interior.  Half  an  hour 
before  sunrise  the  thermometer  registered  60°  Fahrenheit, 
whilst  on  the  two  preceding  mornings  at  the  same  hour  it 
had  stood  at  about  62°  Fahrenheit ;  but  it  never  afterwards 


304  THE  HEART  OF  AFRICA. 

fell  so  low  again,  and  notwithstanding  the  coldness  of  tbe 
mornings  the  temperature  at  midday  rose  regularly  above 
85°  Fahrenheit,  and  on  the  28th  the  thermometer  out  of 
doors  and  exposed  to  a  north  wind  registered  90°  Fahrenheit 
in  the  shade,  whilst  inside  the  huts  it  rose  no  higher  than 
88°  Fahrenheit.  The  uniformity  of  the  temperature  thi-ough- 
out  the  year  is  a  remarkable  peculiarity  of  these  far  inland 
districts,  which  in  winter-time  are  neither  subject  to  the 
great  heat  in  the  middle  of  the  day  nor  to  the  cold  by  night, 
which  are  experienced  in  the  steppes  and  deserts  of  Nubia. 
The  temperature  of  60°  Fahrenheit  was  the  lowest  that  was 
registered  during  a  residence  of  two  years  and  a  half,  and 
was  quite  exceptional,  only  lasting  for  a  couple  of  hours  just 
before  sunrise.  As  a  comparison  between  this  and  the  rela- 
tively cool  climate  of  Tropical  America  I  may  mention  that 
observations  in  Guatemala  gave  the  average  temperature  for 
a  period  of  twelve  years  as  the  same  as  this  one  exceptional 
minimum  registered  throughout  my  two  and  a  half  years' 
residence  in  Central  Africa. 

The  camp  of  the  Egyptian  Government  troops  had  been 
removed  to  the  west,  and  was  now  a  good  seven  days'  march 
beyond  the  Dyoor.  For  the  maintenance  of  the  troops, 
contributions  were  levied  on  all  the  Seribas :  the  Govern- 
ment, it  is  true,  paid  two  Maria  Theresa  dollars  for  each 
ardeb  (1^  cwt.)  of  corn;  but  as  the  bearers  from  the  more 
remote  places  were  obliged  either  to  consume  more  than 
half  of  their  own  loads  upon  their  journey,  or  else  to  obtain 
extra  provisions  from  the  Seribas  through  which  they  passed, 
this  payment  was  necessarily  very  inadequate.  Some  of  the 
controllers  managed  to  raise  their  portion  of  the  compulsory 
tribute  by  sending  herds  of  cattle  to  those  Seribas  that  were 
nearest  to  the  camp,  and  there  getting  them  exchanged  for 
the  required  corn ;  but  as  some  of  the  settlements  were  as 
much  as  twenty  days'  journey  from  the  encampment,  it  was 
perfectly  impossible  to  provide  means  of  transport  to  such  a 


SURREPTITIOUS  SLAVE-TRADE.  305 

distance,  and  besides  this  difficulty,  there  was  a  constant 
occurrence  of  scarcity  of  corn  in  all  the  Seribas ;  the  unrea- 
sonable Turkish  commander,  however,  took  not  the  smallest 
heed  of  these  inconveniences,  but,  by  insisting  upon  the  full 
satisfaction  of  his  demands,  went  far  towards  hurrying  the 
settlements  into  bankruptcy  and  ruin. 

Instead  of  introducing  order  and  regularity  into  the 
country,  the  first  measures  of  the  Government  official  tended 
only  to  engender  odium  and  discontent,  and  completely 
crippled  all  the  more  promising  tendencies  of  the  mercantile 
intercourse  of  the  Seribas.  For  the  suppression  of  the 
slave-trade  they  did  absolutely  nothing.  Along  the  Nile,  it 
is  true,  where  the  route  was  open  and  everything  obliged  to 
be  above-board,  the  Governor-General  had  commenced  pro- 
ceedings for  the  suppression  of  the  slave-trade  by  a  series 
of  bombastic  and  pompous  proclamations;  but  here,  in  the 
deep  interior,  there  was  every  facility  for  the  carrying  on  of 
the  avowedly  prohibited  traffic. 

Nowhere  in  the  world  can  more  inveterate  slave-dealers  be 
found  than  the  commanders  of  the  small  detachments  of 
Egyptian  troops ;  as  they  move  about  from  Seriba  to  Seriba, 
they  may  be  seen  followed  by  a  train  of  their  swarthy  pro- 
perty, which  grows  longer  and  longer  after  every  halt. 

In  the  course  of  my  narrative  I  have  repeatedly  shown 
that  the  inadequacy  of  the  means  of  transport  throws  great 
difficulties  in  the  way  of  the  maintenance  of  a  large  and 
concentrated  body  of  men.  Fifty  pounds  is  the  standard 
weight  of  a  bearer's  burden  on  the  longer  journeys,  and  it 
does  not  require  much  calculation  to  make  it  evident  that 
in  comparatively  a  few  days  this  burden  will  be  materially 
encroached  upon  by  the  bearer  himself  having  to  be  main- 
tained by  means  of  what  he  carries;  he  must  necessarily 
exhaust  it  by  his  own  requirements.  Thus,  for  marches  of 
many  days'  duration,  man  becomes  the  most  unsuitable  of  all 
instruments  for  transporting  provisions.    It  was,  therefore,  not 


306  THE  HEART  OF  AFRICA. 

unnaturally  a  matter  of  constant  consideration  with  me  as 
to  whether  this  difficulty  might  be  obviated  in  any  way,  and 
whetlier  longer  expeditions  might  be  undertaken  into  the 
interior  without  that  continual  risk  of  the  failure  of  their 
means  of  subsistence,  which  was  now  so  perpetually  threaten- 
ing them  as  often  as  they  had  to  make  their  way  either  across 
uninhabited  wildernesses  or  through  hostile  territory. 

The  introduction  into  these  lands  of  carts  drawn  by  oxen, 
such  as  are  in  use  in  South  Africa,  could  only  be  done  with 
very  great  caution,  as  it  would  involve  much  outlay  both  of 
time  and  money ;  in  the  first  place,  the  transport  of  the 
heavy  waggons  themselves  into  the  country  would  be  far 
from  easy,  and  then  drivers  who  could  train  the  beasts  to 
their  work  would  have  to  be  obtained  from  remote  districts  ; 
and  even  if  these  preliminary  obstacles  were  overcome,  it 
remains  somewhat  doubtful  whether  the  breed  of  Dinka 
cattle  could  produce  animals  of  sufficient  strength  and  powers 
of  endurance  for  such  a  purpose.  In  addition  to  all  this  I 
have  already  shown,  in  my  account  of  my  Niam-niam  journey, 
that  it  would  be  impossible  to  penetrate  with  bullock- 
waggons  of  any  sort  beyond  latitude  5°  N. 

It  has  been  proved  by  experience  thalTall  donkeys,  mules, 
horses,  and  camels  succumb  sooner  or  later  to  the  effects  of 
the  climate  ;  thus  oxen  would  remain  the  only  animals  avail- 
able as  beasts  of  burden  ;  but  as  those  of  the  Dinka  would  be 
as  incapable  of  carrying  loads  as  of  drawing  waggons,  it 
would  be  necessary  to  import  suitable  cattle  from  the 
Baggara  Arabs,  thus  following  the  example  of  the  slave- 
traders  from  Kordofan  and  Darfoor,  who  thence  obtain  all  the 
animals  that  they  use  for  riding. 

Any  sort  of  hand-truck  in  these  countries  must  necessarily 
be  limited  to  a  single  wheel,  for,  as  I  have  often  said,  the 
paths  are  everywhere  quite  narrow,  being  in  fact  no  wider 
than  ordinary  wheel-ruts ;  in  most  cases  they  barely  allow 
any  one  whilst   he  is  walking   to  put  one  foot  before  the 


SUGGESTION  FOR  HAND-TRUCKS.  307 

other,  as  the  tall  grass  closely  hems  in  the  avenue  on  either 
hand. 

After  giving  much  attention  to  the  subject,  I  am  con- 
vinced that  the  most  suitable  form  for  any  hand-trucks 
would  be  something  like  that  used  by  the  Chinese,  running 
upon  a  single  large  wheel,  which  the  framework  that  con- 
tains the  goods  spans  like  a  bridge ;  a  construction  which, 
it  is  well  known,  permits  loads  of  considerable  weight 
to  be  moved  by  one  man.  In  Central  Africa,  however, 
these  trucks  would  have  to  be  made  chiefly  of  steel  and 
iron,  and  ought  to  be  constructed  so  that  they  should  be 
propelled  by  a  couple  of  men,  one  pushing  behind  and  one 
pulling  in  front,  by  means  of  two  poles  run  longitudinally 
through  the  barrows.  They  would  then,  I  think,  be  appli- 
cable to  every  variety  of  soil,  and  would  be  equally  adapted 
for' the  swamps  and  for  the  flooded  depressions  of  the  rivers, 
for  the  rocky  ground  of  the  mountainous  regions,  for  the 
densest  forest,  and  for  what  to  broader  waggons  would  pre- 
sent hardly  inferior  difficulties — for  the  open  steppes.  I 
should  estimate  that,  at  a  very  moderate  computation,  trucks 
of  this  build  could  bear  upwards  of  five  hundredweight ;  and 
thus  the  traveller  would  find  the  number  of  men  he  wanted 
reduced  to  one-fifth,  and  still  be  in  a  position  to  convey 
everything  that  was  really  necessary.  In  1870  I  drew  the 
attention  of  African  travellers  to  this  style  of  truck,  made 
almost  exactly  upon  the  principle  of  the  Chinese  hand- 
barrows,  and  I  have  since  submitted  it  to  the  notice  of  the 
German  African  Society,  just  now  formed,  in  the  hopes  that 
it  may  not  immaterially  assist  their  expedition  from  the 
coast  of  Loango. 

I  spent  the  remainder  of  the  year  in  Kurshook  All's 
Seriba.  Whilst  I  was  there,  some  Nubian  soldiers  arrived, 
who,  having  been  eye-witnesses  of  the  late  engagement  with 
the  Niam-niam,  brought  us  more  circumstantial  evidence  of 
the  de''eat   that   the   united   forces  of  the   several  trading 


308  THE  HEART  OF  AFRICA. 

companies  had  suffered.  The  caravan  had  been  composed 
from  the  three  companies  of  Aboo  Guroon,  Hassaballa,  and 
Kurshook  Ali,  and  included  a  larger  number  of  bearers  tlian 
it  was  customary  to  take  into  the  Niam-niam  lands ;  thus  the 
entire  party  numbered  close  upon  2250,  of  which  not  less 
than  300  were  provided  with  firearms.  The  accompanying 
train  of  women  slaves,  that  had  never  been  tolerated  at  all  in 
the  earlier  expeditions,  had  been  gradually  increasing  from 
year  to  year,  and  was  now  of  such  dimensions  as  materially  to 
impede  the  daily  movements  of  the  Khartoomers,  as  well  as  to 
increase  the  confusion  in  the  event  of  war.  The  leaders  had 
striven  in  vain  to  do  away  with  this  abuse,  but  as  it  was  with 
some  difficulty  that  these  undisciplined  soldiers  could  be 
prevailed  upon  to  join  the  arduous  enterprises  at  all,  they 
were  obliged  in  this  respect  at  least  to  let  them  have  their 
own  way.  The  assault  had  been  made  at  a  spot  about  a  day's 
journey  to  the  north  of  the  residence  of  Ndoruma,  the  son  of 
Ezo,  just  as  the  caravan  with  all  the  baggage  was  enter- 
ing the  obscure  gallery  of  a  bank-forest,  and  after  the 
two  leaders,  Aboo  Guroon  and  Ahmed  Awat,  on  their 
mules  at  the  head  of  the  procession,  had  already  emerged 
i'rom  the  farther  end.  To  the  consternation  of  the  Nubians, 
the  attack  was  rendered  doubly  formidable  by  the  skilful 
use  of  the  firearms  which  the  Niam-niam  employed  against 
them  from  behind  the  massive  tree-stems.  Cut  off  from 
their  people,  the  two  leaders  were  killed  at  the  outset 
of  the  conflict,  the  one  by  a  lance  and  the  other  by  a 
bullet. 

During  the  whole  course  of  the  battle,  Aboo  Guroon's 
people  alone  displayed  any  shadow  of  bravery.  A  detach- 
ment forced  their  way  through  the  gallery,  and  rescued  the 
body  of  their  leader  from  the  hands  of  the  enemy,  so  that 
this  old  servant  of  Petherick,  one  of  the  earliest  and  most 
experienced  of  the  traders  with  the  Niam-niam,  was  con- 
signed to  an  honourable  grave,  whilst  the  dead  bodies  of  all 


A  REPULSE.  309 

his  fellow-sufferers  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  Niam-niam. 
Ndoruma,  who  led  on  the  attack  in  person,  had  some  months 
previously  captured  large  quantities  of  guns  and  ammuni- 
tion, and  as  he  was  in  possession  of  several  fugitive  slaves 
from  the  Seribas  who  had  been  familiarised  with  the  use  of 
firearms,  he  had  lost  little  time  in  compelling  them  to  impart 
their  knowledge  to  their  fellow-countrymen.  The  Nubians 
have  the  most  pusillanimous  dread  of  bullets,  and  any 
savage  nation  that  enjoys  the  reputation  of  having  guns  in 
its  possession  may  be  tolerably  sure  of  being  spared  any 
visits  from  them.  It  may  therefore  be  imagined  with  what 
success  the  Niam-niam  pursued  their  victory,  and  with  what 
disgrace  the  intruders  retreated  in  hasty  flight.  All  the 
baggage,  including  a  hundred  loads  of  powder  and  ammimi- 
tion,  fell  into  the  hands  of  Ndoruma ;  and  a  proper  value 
the  cunning  cannibal  seemed  to  know  how  to  set  upon  his 
booty,  for  I  was  informed,  that  he  at  once  erected  waterproof 
magazines  for  the  protection  of  his  treasure,  and  diligently 
set  to  work  to  have  his  people  well-drilled  in  the  use  of 
the  weapons  they  had  captured. 

From  what  I  could  gather  from  some  Niam-niam  with 
whom  I  had  communication,  Ndoruma's  enmity  towards  the 
Khartoomers  was  not  entirely  founded  upon  the  exhaustion 
of  the  ivory-produce  of  his  country.  The  Nubians,  too  short- 
sighted to  foresee  the  consequences  of  their  folly,  are 
accustomed,  whenever  they  can  do  so  witliout  injuiy  to 
themselves,  to  commence  an  unjustifiable  system  of  depre- 
dations upon  any  land  from  which  they  have  no  longer  ■ 
anything  to  gain  by  an  amicable  trade.  In  this  way  they 
have  acted  with  impunity  to  themselves  towards  the  Bongo, 
Mittoo,  and  others ;  but  with  the  Niam-niam,  a  people  whose 
strength  consists  in  their  constitutional  unity,  they  have 
exposed  themselves  to  a  severe  retribution.  In  their  re- 
peated razzias  against  the  surrounding  nations  they  have 
been  addicted  to  the  practice  of  carrying  off  the  women  and 

Vol.  11.— 22 


810  THE  HEART  OF  AFRICA. 

girls,  and  this  has  roused  the  Niam-niam,  who  ever  exhibit 
uuboundeJ  affection  for  their  wives,  to  the  last  degree  of 
exasperation.  It  is  this  diabolical  traffic  in  human  beings 
that  acts  as  the  leading  incentive  to  these  indiscriminating 
Nubians,  and  has  caused  so  much  detriment,  by  the  deci- 
mation of  the  Bongo,  to  their  possessions.  In  one  part,  as 
amongst  the  Bongo,  it  has  resulted  in  bringing  about  an 
insufficiency  of  labour,  and  in  another,  as  amongst  the  Niam- 
niam,  it  has  thrown  a  barricade  of  hostility  across  their 
further  progress. 

Of  the  three  companies  that  had  met  with  this  serious 
repulse,  Kurshook  All's  company  had  suffered  the  smallest 
loss;  its  column  of  bearers,  who  were  bringing  up  the  rear 
of  the  procession,  had  retreated  in  time ;  but  of  the  soldiers 
of  the  company,  who  had  naturally  hastened  to  the  assistance 
of  their  fellow-countrymen,  ten  were  killed  and  four  more 
were  carried  away  severely  wounded.  According  to  the 
protocol  that  Khalil  received,  all  of  these  had  been  pierced 
by  bullets.  Apart  from  the  grievous  loss  of  life  and 
property  that  this  occurrence  entailed,  it  foreboded  nothing 
but  discouragement  for  the  future  of  the  ivory  trade ;  the 
controllers  of  the  Seribas  felt  absolutely  powerless  before  the 
overwhelming  fact  that  the  Niam-niam  had  used  firearms, 
and,  under  the  circumstances,  they  were  entirely  at  a  loss  to 
know  how  to  induce  their  disheartened  troops  to  re-enter  the 
formidable  country.  The  soldiers  openly  declared  that  they 
had  been  hired  to  fight  against  savages  on  the  Upper  Nile, 
and  by  savages,  they  meant  people  who  used  lances  and 
arrows ;  but  to  do  battle  with  people  who  were  armed  with 
genuine  bullets  was  going  beyond  their  contract,  and  this 
they  positively  refused  to  do. 

All  the  bearers  who  had  escaped  from  the  conflict  with 
their  lives,  hurried  back  in  crowds  to  their  settlements,  and 
circulated  in  the  environs  of  the  Seribas  the  most  horrible 
accounts  of  the  heartrending  massacre  they  had  witnessed.  As 


A  LION  SHOT.  311 

the  demands  of  the  expedition  had  nearly  emptied  several  of 
the  Seribas  of  their  fighting  force,  those  settlements  that 
were  on  the  Dinka  frontiers  were  consequently  for  the  time 
considerably  exposed  to  the  danger  of  attack  from  their 
neiglibours.  Accordingly,  in  the  course  of  a  few  days,  it 
happened  that  we  were  solicited  by  the  inhabitants  of  a 
neighbouring  Seriba  of  the  deceased  Aboo  Guroon  to  send 
thera  an  armed  succour,  as  the  Dinka  around  them  were 
assuming  a  most  threatening  attitude.  Khalil  complied  with 
their  request  by  sending  a  small  detachment  of  soldiers  to 
co-operate  with  the  remnant  of  armed  men  who  had  been 
left  in  charge  of  the  garrison. 

All  these  events  combined  to  give  my  life  in  the  Seriba 
much  more  excitement  than  before,  and  my  intercourse  with 
strangers  was  far  from  unfrequent.  Many  of  the  Gellahbas, 
mounted  upon  their  donkeys  or  Baggara  oxen,  passed  through 
the  place  to  do  business  in  the  purchase  of  living  ebony,  and 
their  rivals,  the  Turkish  soldiers,  ever  and  anon  paid  us  a 
visit  whilst  on  their  way  to  make  their  requisitions  of  corn  at 
the  adjacent  Seribas. 

On  one  occasion  the  surprising  intelligence  was  brought 
us  that  a  lion  had  been  shot  on  the  sandy  bed  of  the  retreat- 
ing Dyoor.  In  the  early  morning  the  animal  had  gone  to 
quench  its  thirst  at  the  river,  and  had  been  tracked  down  to 
the  water's  edge  by  a  troop  of  soldiers  who  happened  to  be 
passing  by ;  one  of  their  number,  though  but  an  indifferent 
marksman,  had. aimed  from  a  short  range,  and  had  succeeded 
in  mortally  wounding  the  lion  by  a  shot  in  the  head.  The 
skin  was  dressed  and  converted  into  a  splendid  saddle-cloth, 
whilst  th(3  head  was  stuffed,  and  devoted  to  the  mysterious 
purposes  of  magic. 

One  night  a  deafening  uproar  suddenly  arose :  it  was 
followed  by  a  horrible  yell,  accompanied  by  what  sounded 
like  the  wails,  screeches,  and  howls  of  a  lot  of  teri-ified 
women.     Every  one  started  to  his  feet;  the  soldiers  seized 


312  THE  HEART  OF  AFRICA. 

their  weapons;  the  captain  of  the  Turkish  guard,  who 
happened  to  be  in  the  place  with  a  party  of  bazibozuks, 
rushed  out  with  his  troop,  and  increased  the  confusion  by 
sending  forth  a  whole  volley  of  the  usual  oaths  and  impre- 
cations. It  turned  out,  however,  that  there  was  no  demand 
either  for  his  military  services  or  for  any  of  his  bombastic 
bluster.  The  simple  cause  of  the  tumultuous  outcry  was 
the  fall  of  an  enormous  tree  near  the  Seriba.  To  save  the 
trouble  of  felling  this  monster  of  the  woods  it  had  been 
gradually  undermined  by  fire,  and  the  negroes,  in  the  course 
of  one  of  their  nightly  orgies,  had  been  waiting  for  the 
moment  of  its  downfall,  and  were  now  bellowing  and  dancing 
like  maniacs  around  the  prostrate  and  still  smoking  mass. 

On  the  25th  I  made  an  excursion  to  the  banks  of  the 
Dyoor,  for  the  purpose  of  hunting  hippopotamuses,  as  well 
as  of  verifying  the  condition  of  the  river  by  taking  measure- 
ments in  two  fresh  places.  Six  miles  to  the  S.S.E.  of  the 
Seriba,  I  reached  the  left  bank  of  the  river  at  a  place  where 
it  was  overgrown  with  tall  reeds,  and  on  our  return  we 
crossed  again  four  miles  farther  below.  Between  these  two 
positions  was  a  deep  basin,  in  which  a  number  of  hippo- 
potamuses throughout  the  year  found  sufficient  water  in 
which  to  perform  their  evolutions.  A  couple  of  miles  still 
lower  down  were  situated  the  two  crossing-places  of  earlier 
date.  Between  the  most  northerly  and  the  most  southerly 
of  the  four  spots  I  have  mentioned,  the  general  direction 
of  the  Dyoor  is  due  north,  varied  by  gentle  windings  to 
the  N.N.E.  and  N.N.W.  Beginning  at  the  most  northerly, 
and  taking  them  in  order,  I  will  now  proceed  to  give  the 
result  of  my  observations  on  the  condition  of  the  Dyoor  at 
each  of  the  four  places  where  I  crossed  it  either  by  boat  or 
by  swimming. 

1.  At  the  first  spot  the  entire  bed  was  800  feet  wide,  but 
on  the  28th  of  April,  1869,  the  water  only  extended  to  the 
width  of  eighty  feet,  being  from  one  to  four  feet  in  depth, 


THE  BED  OF  THE  DYOOR.  313 

The  edge  of  the  bank  stood  from  twenty  to  twenty-five  feet 
above  the  water. 

2.  At  the  next  point  of  examination  the  measuring-line 
gave  the  width  of  the  bed  from  bank  to  bank  as  302  feet. 
On  the  8th  of  May,  1869,  the  river  was  full,  and  three  or 
four  feet  deep.  On  the  27th  of  October,  and  on  the  1st 
of  November,  1870,  the  depth  was  from  sixteen  to  twenty 
feet,  whilst  the  banks  were  already  three  or  four  feet  above 
the  surface  of  the  water.  The  velocity  of  the  current  on  the 
left  and  western  shore  was  105  feet  per  minute,  whilst  on 
the  eastern  it  was  137^  feet.  It  could  be  seen  by  the  flood- 
marks  that  in  the  height  of  the  rainy  season  (i.e.  in  August 
and  September)  the  entire  depression,  extending  from  1000 
to  1200  paces  on  the  left  shore,  and  only  100  paces  broad  on 
the  right,  was  covered  with  water  to  a  depth  of  three  or  four 
feet. 

3.  The  bed  of  the  river  at  the  third  place,  where  I  sub- 
mitted it  to  my  examination,  was  328  feet  wide,  and  on  the 
18th  and  25th  of  December  was  full.  For  a  distance  of 
sixty  feet  from  the  right-hand  bank,  the  depth  of  the  water 
was  little  more  than  a  foot,  then  for  100  feet  in  the  middle 
of  the  stream  it  was  about  two  feet,  and  subsequently  for 
the  remainder  of  the  width  as  far  as  the  left  bank  it  increased 
to  four  feet.  On  the  western  shore,  where  the  river  de- 
pression stretched  out  in  wide  tracts,  the  current  was  far 
stronger  than  on  the  eastern,  where  the  wooded  rocks  extend 
close  down  to  the  edge  of  the  water.  Near  this  place  the 
condition  of  the  depression  of  the  river  was  exceptional, 
being  of  an  equal  breadth  of  about  600  feet  on  either  side 
of  the  stream. 

4.  The  bed  of  the  stream  at  the  last  of  my  points  of 
observation  was,  according  to  the  measuring-line,  492  feet 
wide.  On  the  25th  of  December,  1870,  it  was  only  half  full 
of  water.  Near  the  reedy  left-hand  bank  alone  was  the 
water  of  any  considerable  depth :  at  that  spot  it  was  about 


314  THE  HEART  OV  AFRICA. 

four  feet  deep,  but  nowhere  else  was  it  more  than  two  feet. 
The  current  was  strongest  in  the  middle  of  the  stream  :  it 
is  a  peculiarity  of  the  Dyoor  that  its  current  has  always  the 
same  velocity,  and  does  not  appear  to  be  at  all  affected  by 
the  variations  in  the  height  of  the  water. 

I  sat  for  hours  upon  the  rocky  slopes  of  the  right  banh 
of  the  river  watching  the  hippopotamuses  as  they  plunged 
about  in  the  water,  and  occasionally  firing  at  them  as  oppor- 
tunities occurred  for  an  aim ;  but  a  light  rifle  was  all  that 
I  had  saved  from  the  fire,  and  the  small  shot  that  it  carried 
did  not  have  much  effect  upon  the  unwieldy  beasts.  The 
range  of  my  rifle  was  rarely  more  than  150  feet,  and  of 
the  hundred  shots  that  I  discharged  very  few  did  any  serious 
damage,  and  only  two  animals  appeared  to  be  mortally 
wounded.  Early  on  the  following  morning  the  natives  oi 
the  surrounding  districts  found  the  body  of  one  of  the 
creatures  that  I  had  killed  by  a  bullet  behind  the  ear  lying 
amongst  the  reeds  in  the  river-bed,  and  they  spent  several 
hours  in  cutting  up  the  ponderous  carcase. 

The  colour  of  nearly  all  these  animals  was  a  dark  fleshy 
red,  almost  like  raw  meat,  marked  irregularly  with  large 
black  spots ;  I  also  saw  specimens  of  a  lighter  shade,  but 
never  of  a  pure  white;  in  the  sunshine  their  damp  bodies 
assumed  quite  a  blueish-grey  hue.  Half  of  the  hippo- 
potamuses that  I  noticed  at  this  deep  part  of  the  river,  which 
extended  for  about  a  mile,  were  females  carrying  their 
young,  which  at  this  season  seemed  very  weak  and  unde- 
veloped, and  sat  astride  on  the  short  necks  of  their  mothers. 
The  females  appeared  to  rise  to  the  surface  of  the  water 
for  the  sake  of  their  young  far  more  frequently  than  was 
necessary  for  their  own  accommodation,  and  unlike  the 
males,  which  usually  show  their  mouth  and  nostrils,  they 
only  lifted  their  young  above  the  water,  whilst  their  own 
1  leads  generally  remained  invisible.  The  animals  seem  to 
utter  different  sounds  at  different  seasons;  they  now  snorted 


THE  TENANTS  OF  THE  DYOOK.  315 

and  grunted,  or  rather  groaned,  aud  the  sharp  rattling  gurgle 
was  less  distinct  than  in  the  spring.  In  the  sunlight  the 
fine  spray  emitted  from  their  nostrils  gleamed  like  a  ray  of 
light. 

Now  and  then,  with  a  frightful  roar  that  resounded  far 
away,  the  males  would  leap  violently  from  the  water,  dis- 
playing all  the  forepart  of  their  huge  body;  they  seemed 
to  be  scuffling  together,  but  whether  they  were  quarrelling 
for  a  monopoly  of  the  limited  space,  or  whether  they  had 
been  hit  by  some  of  my  bullets,  I  could  not  determine. 
Their  small  pointed  ears  were  remarkably  flexible,  and  were 
continually  moving  to  and  fro  as  the  animals  listened  to 
distant  sounds  or  flapped  away  the  settling  insects.  All 
other  characteristics  of  the  hippopotamus  are  so  well  known 
that  it  would  be  superfluous  to  introduce  any  further  descrip- 
tion of  them  here. 

To  the  same  degree  as  its  waters  were  enlivened  by  fish 
and  hippopotamuses,  were  the  banks  of  the  Dyoor  animated 
by  birds  and  many  varieties  of  animals.  The  forests  were 
denizened  by  several  species  of  the  monkey  family,  that 
during  the  winter  months  found  there  an  abundant  harvest 
of  ripened  fruit.  The  grotesque  form  of  the  red-billed 
Nashorr-bird  rocked  to  and  fro  on  the  half-bare  branches, 
and  one  of  the  most  splendid  of  African  birds,  the  sky-blue 
Elminia,  was  especially  frequent.  The  bare  sand-flats  in  the 
half  dry  river-bed  were  the  favourite  resorts  of  the  water- 
birds.  The  quaint-looking  umbers  (Scopus  umhretta),  which 
are  generally  seen  sitting  solitary  by  the  shady  swamps  in 
the  woods,  were  here  marshalled  along  the  banks  in  flocks  of 
twelve  or  fifteen ;  these  birds,  with  their  ponderous  crested 
heads  pensively  drooping  in  the  noontide  heat,  seemed  in 
their  "  sombre  weeds  "  rather  to  belong  to  the  dreary  wastes 
of  the  chilly  north  than  to  the  smiling  grass-plains  of  the 
Upper  Nile.  Then  there  were  the  great  herons  {Myderia 
senegalensis)  gravely  strutting  about,  or  skimming  the  dark 


316  THE  HEART  OF  AFIUCA. 

blue  surface  of  the  water  on  their  silvery  pinions.  The 
Khartoomers  call  this  bird  Aboo  Mieh,  or  father  of  hundreds, 
in  commemoration  of  the  munificence  of  a  traveller  who  is 
said  to  have  given  a  hundred  piastres  (five  dollars)  for  the 
first  specimens  of  this  noble  bird.  In  other  places  the  sacred 
ibises  had  congregated  into  groups,  and  with  their  bills 
turned  towards  the  water,  stood  or  squatted  motionless  under 
the  vertical  beams  of  the  midday  sun.  The  return  of  the 
dry  and  cool  winter  months  regularly  brings  these  birds, 
like  their  compatriots  the  Khartoomers,  into  the  more 
southerly  negro-countries.  Ever  and  again  the  sharp  cry 
of  the  osprey  from  some  invisible  quarter  would  rouse  the 
traveller  from  his  reveries,  as  though  by  its  yelling  laughter 
it  were  mocking  at  his  meditations.  Storks,  which  are  so 
prominent  a  feature  in  the  Central  Soudan,  and  are  so  highly 
reverenced  in  Adamawa,  did  not  appear  in  these  regions, 
and  throughout  my  journey  to  the  Niam-niam  I  never  saw 
them. 

We  were  hard  at  work  on  the  following  day  in  turning 
the  huge  carcase  of  the  hippopotamus  to  account  for  our 
domestic  use.  My  people  boiled  down  great  flasks  of  the 
fat  which  they  took  from  the  layers  between  the  ribs,  but 
what  the  entire  produce  of  grease  would  have  been  I  was 
unable  to  determine,  as  hundreds  of  natives  had  already  cut 
oft'  and  appropriated  pieces  of  the  flesh.  When  boiled, 
hippopotamus-fat  is  very  similar  to  pork-lard,  though  in  the 
warm  climate  of  Central  Africa  it  never  attains  a  consistency 
firmer  than  that  of  oil.  Of  all  animal  fats  it  appears  to  be 
the  purest,  and  at  any  rate  never  becomes  rancid,  and  will 
keep  for  many  years  without  requiring  any  special  process 
of  clarifying ;  it  has,  however,  a  slight  flavour  of  train-oil,  to 
which  it  is  difficult  for  a  European  to  become  accustomed. 
It  is  stated  in  some  books  that  hippopotamus-bacon  is  quite 
a  delicacy,  but  I  can  by  no  means  concur  in  the  opinion ;  I 
always  found  it  unfit  for  eating,  and  when  cut  into  narrow 


KUEBATCHES.  317 

strips  and  roasted,  it  was  as  hard  and  tough  as  so  much 
rope ;  the  same  may  be  said  of  the  tongue,  which  I  often  had 
smoked  and  salted.  The  meat  is  remarkably  fibrous,  and  is 
one  continuous  tissue  of  sinews. 

Several  hundred  Nile-whips  or  kurbatches  can  be  made 
from  the  hide  of  a  single  animal,  and  afterwards,  in  Egypt, 
my  servants  made  a  profitable  little  market  by  selling  the 
whips,  for  which  they  found  a  ready  demand.  By  a  propei' 
application  of  oil,  heat,  and  friction,  they  may  be  made  as 
flexible  as  gutta  percha.  The  fresh  skin  is  easily  cut  cross- 
wise into  long  quadrilateral  strips,  and  when  half  dry,  the 
edges  are  trimmed  with  a  knife,  and  the  strips  are  hammered 
into  the  round  whips  as  though  they  were  iron  beaten  on  an 
anvil.  The  length  of  these  much  dreaded  "  knouts  "  of  the 
south  is  represented  by  half  the  circumference  of  the  body 
of  the  hippopotamus,  the  stump  end  of  the  whip,  which  is 
about  as  thick  as  one's  finger,  corresponding  to  the  skin  on 
the  back,  whilst  the  point  is  the  skin  of  the  belly. 

By  a  remarkable  accident  one  of  my  most  important 
manuscripts,  happily  for  me,  escaped  the  conflagration  in 
Ghattas's  Seriba.  The  explosion  of  a  chest  of  ammunition 
had  sent  the  book  flying  high  into  the  air,  where  it  had 
been  caught  by  a  current  of  wind  caused  by  the  glow,  and, 
being  carried  for  some  distance,  fell  to  the  ground  in  a  wood 
outside  the  Seriba;  after  the  lapse  of  many  days  it  was 
picked  up  by  some  natives  and  brought  to  me  with  no  other 
damage  than  that  the  edges  of  the  leaves  had  been  slightly 
singed.  The  manuscript  contained  a  copious  vocabulary  of 
the  Bongo  dialect  and  a  collection  of  carefully  translated 
phrases  and  sentences.  I  could  not  fail  to  accept  this 
recovered  treasure  as  an  incitement  to  the  further  prosecu- 
tion of  my  linguistic  studies,  and  I  set  to  work  at  once  to 
replace  my  Dyoor  and  Niam-niam  vocabularies.  The  idioms 
of  the  far  south  and  east,  which  I  had  so  laboriously  com- 
mitted to  writing,  the  dialects  of  the  l^Iittoo  tribes,  of  tlie 


318  THE  HEART  OF  AFRICA. 

Behl,  of  the  Babuckur,  and  the  Monbuttoo,  were  unfor- 
tunately irrecoverably  lost,  for  during  my  subsequent 
residence  in  the  Seribas  I  could  never  meet  with  competent 
interpreters. 

My  old  friend  Khalil  commanded  greater  respect  from  his 
subordinates,  and  maintained  more  order  and  discipline  in 
his  Seriba,  than  any  other  controller  belonging  to  a  Khar- 
toom  mercantile  firm  with  whom  I  ever  became  acquainted. 
With  him,  the  settler  who  had  been  longest  in  the  country, 
I  spent  many  a  pleasant  hour,  and  from  his  confidential 
gossip  I  gained  many  a  hint  that  enabled  me  to  form  an 
accurate  judgment  upon  the  state  of  affairs.  He  complained 
very  much  about  the  undisciplined  troops  of  his  countrymen 
that  were  sent  to  him  from  Khartoom ;  he  emphatically 
denounced  the  slave  trade,  and  although  he  could  not  enter 
much  into  the  humanity  of  the  attempts  for  its  suppression, 
yet  he  was  fully  alive  to  the  disadvantages  that  it  exercised 
upon  the  internal  administration  of  the  Seribas.  He  was 
extremely  anxious  that  the  natives  under  his  jurisdiction 
should  suffer  no  diminution  in  their  numbers,  and  would 
often  dispute  with  the  itinerant  slave-dealers  their  right  to 
carry  off  property  that  they  had  obtained  from  his  territory  ; 
he  even  endeavoured  to  exercise  control  over  his  subordinates 
in  the  subsidiary  Seribas,  although  they  generally  contrive^ 
to  elude  his  watchfulness.  Whenever  it  happened  that  any 
orphan  Dyoor  or  Bongo  children  had  been  sold  to  the 
Gellahbas,  he  would  use  all  sorts  of  remonstrances  and 
would  spare  no  argument  to  induce  the  traders  to  surrender 
their  booty. 

"  This  boy,"  he  would  say,  "  you  can't  have  him :  in  the 
course  of  three  or  four  years  he  will  be  old  enough  to  be  a 
bearer,  and  will  be  able  to  carry  his  70  lbs.  of  ivory  to  the 
Meshera ;  and  this  girl,  you  mustn't  take  her :  she  will  soon 
be  of  an  age  to  be  married  and  have  children.  Where  do 
you  suppose  I  am  to  get  my  bearers  in  future,  if  you  run  off 


NUBIAN  CHARACTER.  319 

with  all  the  boys?  and  where  do  you  expect  that  I  shall  find 
wives  for  my  Bongo  and  Dyoor,  if  you  carry  all  the  girls 
out  of  the  country  ?  " 

However  reserved  might  be  my  behaviour  towards  the 
Nubians,  yet  my  long  period  of  daily  intercourse  withthe  m 
gave  me  a  tolerably  deep  insight  into  their  character.  It 
may  perhaps  appear  incomprehensible  how,  with  any  equani- 
mity, I  could  have  endured  for  two  years  and  a  half  the 
exclusive  society  of  what  was,,  for  the  most  part,  a  mere 
rough  rabble;  but  it  must  be  remembered  that  the  social 
position  that  I  was  able  to  maintain  amongst  them  was  very 
different  to  what  it  would  have  been  amongst  a  party  of 
rude  and  unpolished  Europeans,  and  their  religious  fana- 
ticism, as  well  as  the  entire  difference  of  their  habits,  raised 
a  strong  barrier  of  defence  against  any  sort  of  intimacy. 
Amongst  the  thousands  of  Nubian  colonists  with  whom  I 
was  thrown  in  contact,  I  never  met  with  a  single  individual 
who  offered  me  any  insult  either  in  word  or  deed ;  I  never 
had  occasion  to  enter  into  anything  like  domestic  relations 
with  them,  and  never  did  otherwise  than  eat  and  sleep  per- 
fectly alone  and  in  the  seclusion  of  my  own  hut.  But  in  spite 
of  all  my  reserve  I  was  a  constant  witness  of  the  scenes  in 
their  daily  life,  and  I  believe  that  very  few  of  their  habits 
escaped  my  notice ;  it  may  not,  therefore,  be  altogether 
uninteresting  to  insert  here  some  results  of  my  observations 
upon  the  character  of  my  old  travelling  companions. 

Throughout  this  account  of  my  wanderings  I  have,  for  the 
sake  of  simplicity,  always  used  the  term  "Nubians"  to 
denote  the  present  inhabitants  of  the  Nile  Valley,  in  contra- 
distinction to  the  Egyptians  and  true  Arabs  (Syro- Arabians) 
on  the  one  hand,  and  to  the  Ethiopian  Bedouins  and  true 
Negroes  on  the  other.  I  do  not  for  a  moment  deny  that  the 
present  Nubians  (meaning  by  this  term  only  the  people  who 
dwell  on  the  banks  of  the  river)  must  have  sprung  from 
various    races.      Independently    of  the    three    dialects    ot 


320  THE  HEART  OF  AFRICA. 

the  Nubian  language,  which  are  those  of  Dongola,  of  Kenoos, 
and  of  Mahass  (in  which  it  is  supposed  that  the  still  un- 
deciphered  ancient  Ethiopian  inscriptions  are  written),  and 
independently  of  Arabic  being  the  actual  mother-language 
of  the  natives,  who  have,  in  fact,  immigrated  from  Asia,  and 
some  of  whom,  as  for  instance  the  Sheigieh,  have  hitherto 
remained  ignorant  of  the  Nubian  language  altogether ; 
they  are  yet  all  so  united  by  one  common  bond  alike  of 
general  habits  and  physical  character,  that  they  no  longer 
exhibit  any  perceptible  distinctions.  It  must  also  be  remem- 
bered that  these  Nubian  natives  of  the  Nile  district  have  for 
centuries  not  only  intermarried  with  each  other,  but  have  also 
mixed  so  indiscriminately  with  slaves  of  every  origin,  that 
they  have  lost  all  traces  of  being  other  than  a  single  race. 
Accordingly  the  use  of  the  term  *'  Nubian,"  under  the 
restriction  named,  may  be  justified  in  more  than  one  respect, 
and  may  be  fairly  employed  in  geographical,  ethnographical, 
or  historical  relations. 

Whoever  has  become  acquainted  with  the  passive  natives 
of  Berber  or  Dongola  *  in  Egypt  only,  or  more  especially  in 
Alexandria,  where  they  are  trusted  with  the  charge  of  house 
and  home,  and  whoever  has  witnessed  the  patience  with  which 
they  endure  the  antipathy  of  the  residents,  will  be  at  a  loss 
how  to  reconcile  his  own  impression  with  the  unfavourable 
one  given  by  a  traveller  so  faithful  as  Burckhardt,t  who  knew 
them  before  they  were  subjected  to  Egyptian  domination,  and 
has  left  on  record  his  version  of  their  national  character. 

As  far  as  my  own  experience  went,  with  regard  to  morality, 
T  decidedly  preferred  the  people  of  Berber  to  the  Egyptians, 
and  I  believed  that  the  change  foi-  the  better  that  had  taken 
place  since  Burckhardt's  visit  to  Berber  and  Shendy  in  1822, 
had  been  owing  to  the  more  rigid  government  of  the  Turks 


*  The  Egyptians  call  them  simply  "  Barabra." 

t, '  Travels  in  Nubia,"  by  the  late  John  Lewis  Burckhanlt.     London,  1822. 


VIRTUES  AND  VICES.  321 

on  the  one  hand,  and  to  the  increasing  physical  luxury  of  the 
people  of  Berber  on  the  other;  for  in  their  own  homes  1 
never  found  them  to  be  otherwise  than  quiet  and  harmless. 

My  impressions,  however,  were  at  that  time  very  imper- 
fect ;  but  when  I  saw  the  people  on  the  territory  of  the  Bahr- 
el-Ghazal,  that  pasture-land  for  their  hungry  spirits,  where 
they  are  beyond  the  jurisdiction  ol  the  Government  and  are 
no  longer  in  dread  of  bastinadoes,  extortions,  taxation,  or 
summonses  to  the  divans  of  the  satraps,  and  where  there  are 
no  Egyptians  to  mock  them  with  the  insulting  cry  of 
"  Barabra," — then  I  discovered  the  true  side  of  their  nature, 
and  all  their  leading  traits  came  fully  to  light.  Their  cha- 
racter, a  curious  mixture  of  exemplary  virtues  and  most 
repulsive  vices,  was  not  like  a  mechanical  medley  of  an- 
tagonistic qualities,  but  was  a  composition  in  which  each 
single  quality  seemed  to  partake  of  mingled  good  and  evil, 
though  unfortunately  the  evil  decidedly  preponderated. 

If  an  Alexandrian  merchant  were  asked  for  a  character  of 
his  Nubian  servant  or  baob,  he  would  probably  give  it  some- 
thing in  the  following  way  :  "  My  servant  is  a  man  ^^  horn  I 
would  confidently  trust  with  untold  gold,  and  yet  there  is 
no  one  to  whom  he  is  more  indifferent  than  to  myself.  I  am 
convinced  that  if  I  were  in  danger  he  would  not  stir  a  finger 
to  save  me."  And  this  judgment  would  indeed  be  perfectly 
fair;  the  faithfulness  of  the  Nubians  is  merely  inspired  by 
their  cowardice,  otherwise  it  would  not  be  limited  to  money 
or  things  of  a  similar  nature.  Pilfering  is  not  one  of  their 
failings,  and  is  unheard  of  even  in  their  lawless  proceedings 
in  the  wilderness  of  the  Upper  Nile.  As  long  as  I  lived 
amongst  them  they  never  robbed  me  of  the  smallest  article 
of  my  property,  and  in  this  respect  their  behaviour  offered 
a  very  favourable  contrast  to  what  I  experienced  from 
the  Egyptians,  whose  thievish  propensities  have  already 
been  placed  by  Burckhardt  in  unfavourable  contrast  to 
the  honesty  of  the  Nubians.     It  is  not,  however,  a  genuine 


322  THE  HEART  OF  AFPJCA. 

sense  of  right  that  makes  the  Nubians  honest,  but  rather  the 
want  of  courage  that  pervades  all  their  dealings:  courage, 
whether  for  good  or  for  evil,  physical  or  moral,  is  entirely 
wanting  amongst  them.  Their  agreement  one  with  another, 
and  the  promptitude  with  which  every  one  feels  bound  to 
check  a  rising  quarrel,  whether  it  concern  himself  or  not, 
arises  from  this  same  defect.  Their  indomitable  striving  for 
freedom  is  only  the  utterance  of  a  spirit  that  rebels  against 
order  of  any  kind,  and  refuses  even  to  be  compelled  to 
cleanliness ;  but  at  the  same  time  it  cannot  be  denied  that 
sparks  of  a  nobler  nature  can  be  traced  in  this  part  of  their 
character,  and  they  show  a  degree  of  patriotism,  a  feeling  of 
nationality,  and  a  resistance  to  usurped  authority,  all  of  which 
are  sentiments  quite  unknown  to  the  Egyptians. 

Untruthfulness  has  become  to  them  a  second  nature,  and 
most  of  them  will  tell  lies  by  habit,  even  when  it  is  not  of 
the  smallest  advantage  to  conceal  the  truth. 

They  display  a  far  greater  amount  of  religious  fanaticism 
in  the  Seribas  than  in  their  own  homes,  as  may  be  seen  in 
their  behaviour  towards  the  heathen  negroes,  and  I  should 
fill  a  long  chapter  if  I  were  to  attempt  to  illustrate  my 
account  by  the  various  examples  of  this  of  which  I  was 
myself  a  witness.  To  their  ineradicable  belief  in  witches 
and  in  the  periodic  migration  of  souls  into  the  bodies  of 
hysenas,  I  have  already  made  several  allusions.  But  the 
most  monstrous  of  all  their  practices  was  that  of  liver-eating, 
of  which  some  of  the  soldiers  (though  I  must  confess  they 
were  only  exceptions)  were  shamelessly  guilty  during  their 
encounters  with  the  heathen.  In  Nubia  dogs  are  trained  for 
the  chase  in  rather  a  remarkable  manner :  for  a  long  time 
they  are  deprived  of  all  animal  food,  but  the  first  time  after- 
wards that  an  antelope  is  killed  they  are  fed  with  its  still 
reeking  liver ;  by  this  means  the  dog  is  accustomed  to 
the  scent,  and  becomes  so  wild  and  bloodthirsty,  that  it  is 
always  eager  to  track  and  hunt  down  its  prey.     It  is  probably 


PEEJUDICES.  823 

this  custom  that  has  caused  the  liver-eating  people  to 
imagine  that  by  a  similar  method  they  may  make  them- 
selves invincible  in  battle ;  perhaps  they  entertain  the 
belief,  that  after  partaking  of  such  food,  a  portion  of  the 
power  and  courage  of  their  fallen  foe  may  pass  into  the 
vanquisher. 

Other  notions,  very  similar  in  character,  appear  to  be 
widely  diffused  throughout  the  Mohammedan  world.  In 
their  bigoted  prejudices  the  Mohammedans  imagine  that 
the  Christians  are  just  as  fanatical  as  themselves ;  the  pitch 
to  which  their  imagination  will  carry  them  about  the  actions 
of  which  they  believe  Christians  to  be  guilty  may  be 
illustrated  by  the  following  anecdote :  A  friend  of  mine, 
who  held  the  post  of  Government  physician  in  a  town  on 
the  Ked  Sea,  proposed  one  day,  in  order  to  gain  a  more 
accurate  knowledge  of  a  disorder  that  was  raging  in  the 
place,  to  dissect  the  body  of  a  pilgrim,  a  stranger  without 
kith  or  kin,  who  had  died  in  the  hospital.  The  doctor  had 
long  been  on  the  look-out  for  an  opportunity  of  this  kind, 
but  up  to  this  time  had  never  had  a  body  which  he  could 
consider  as  being  at  his  own  disposal ;  now  he  thought  he 
had  a  chance  of  making  his  investigations  in  peace  and 
quietness.  But  his  project  was  quickly  to  be  frustrated. 
The  hospital  servants,  perceiving  his ,  preparations,  rushed 
horrified  to  the  Governor ; .  the  news  spread  like  wild-fire 
through  the  little  town ;  the  principal  inhabitants  met  and 
consulted,  and  authorised  a  deputation  to  wait  upon  the 
Governor,  who,  at  their  instance,  commanded  the  physician, 
under  penalty  of  forfeiting  his  post,  to  desist  from  the  opera- 
tion. The  offender  also  received  a  severe  reprimand  from 
the  sanitary  authorities,  who  expressed  their  indignation 
that  he  should  have  been  guilty  of  such  an  outrage  upon 
the  customs  of  the  land.  The  citizens  were  at  length 
pacified,  but  for  long  afterwards  the  revolting  report  was 
current  amongst  them  that  the  doctor,  being  a  Christian, 


324  THE  HEART  OF  AFRICA. 

bad  been  about  to  take  tbe  opportunity  of  eating  the  heart 
of  a  Mussulman  and  of  drinking  his  blood ! 

Khalil  told  me  that  in  his  own  home  it  was  the  general 
belief,  in  which,  although  he  now  knew  better,  he  had  him- 
self been  a  firm  believer,  that  when  a  Mussulman  enters  the 
land  of  the  Franks  he  is  at  once  caught  and  put  into  a 
cage,  where  he  is  carefully  fattened;  as  soon  as  he  is  nice 
and  plump,  he  is  placed  upon  a  gridiron  over  a  fire  that  has 
been  lighted  in  a  pit  below ;  the  fat  is  collected  as  it  drops 
from  his  body,  and  from  this  fat  of  the  faithful  it  is  believed 
that  the  Franks  prepare  their  most  subtle  poisons. 

Whenever  a  horse  or  a  donkey  gets  in  any  way  sickly  it 
is  compelled  to  swallow  pieces  of  pork ;  this  is  considered  as 
an  infallible  cure  throughout  the  whole  of  Nubia,  and  in  some 
of  the  heathen  negro-countries,  where  tame  pigs  are  unknown, 
the  flesh  of  the  wild  hog  (Phacochserus)  is  used  as  a  substitute. 
The  practice  in  Zanzibar  and  in  other  places  subject  to  the 
Arabian  semi-culture  of  introducing  pigs  into  the  stalls  with 
the  horses  for  the  purpose  of  attracting  the  devil  from  them 
into  the  swine,  is  unknown  to  the  Nubians,  but  probably 
only  for  the  reason  that  stalls  do  not  exist  in  the  Soudan. 

Amulets*  are  not  only  worn  by  dozens  round  the  arms  of 
the  *'  believers,"  but  are  affixed  to  the  doors  of  the  houses 
as  a  protection  from  fire,  and,  what  may  sound  still  more 
remarkable,  they  are  hung  upon  the  necks  of  horses  and 
donkeys.  The  writing  of  amulets  is  one  of  the  most  remu- 
nerative occupations  of  the  Fakis  or  scribes,  and  they  are  in 
far  greater  requisition  in  Nubia  than  in  Egypt. 

The  Fakis  of  Darfoor  are  held  in  the  greatest  reverence, 

and  they  are  credited  with  the  power  of  securing  a  certain 

rotection  from  bullets.     They  are  presumed,  by  means  of 

spells,  to  be  able  to  make  the  lead  to  dissolve  into  vapour, 


*  Bnrckliardt  gives  copies  of  two  of  tliese  amulets  in  his  '  Travels,'  pp.  210 
aud  211. 


SILVER  BULLETS.  325 

and  to  work  enchantments  so  that  the  discharge  becomes 
innocuous.  There  has  hence  arisen  in  the  Egyptian  Soudan 
such  an  exaggerated  notion  of  the  superiority  of  the  weapons 
of  Darfoor,  that  none  other  than  white  Turkish  troops  are 
considered  suitable  for  a  campaign  against  this  stronghold  of 
Mohammedan  fanaticism.  The  Turks,  themselves  bigoted 
enough,  naturally  laugh  at  all  their  superstition,  and  an 
anecdote  related  to  me  by  the  Governor  of  Fashoda  will 
serve  to  illustrate  the  extravagance  of  these  delusions  of  the 
Nubians.  He  told  me  that  Seebehr  Bahama,  the  great 
Seriba  owner,  whose  territory  joins  the  southern  frontiers  of 
Darfoor,  had  boasted  to  him  that  he  possessed  a  means  of 
foiling  the  black  art  of  the  Foorian  Fakis;  he  had  had 
25,000  dollars  melted  down  into  bullets  in  Khartoom,  and  as 
the  amulets  of  the  Fakis  did  not  apply  to  silver,  he  declared 
these  new-fashioned  shot  to  be  most  effectual.  This  story,  as 
I  have  said,  had  been  received  by  the  Governor  from  See- 
behr's  own  lips,  and  as  I  heard  it  confirmed  in  various 
quarters,  I  have  no  reason  to  doubt  its  truth,  especially  as 
Seebehr's  wealth  and  enterprising  character  were  as  well- 
known  to  me  as  his  blind  superstition.  If  then  the  Viceroy 
should  open  a  war  with  Darfoor  (and  there  are  few  who, 
interested  in  the  progress  of  enlightenment,  would  not 
rejoice  to  hear  of  such  a  movement)  he  must  first,  before 
venturing  to  attack  this  African  Bokhara,  lay  in  a  store  of 
the  precious  metal,  in  order  to  make  the  weapons  of  his 
troops  at  all  effective  against  their  foes.  A  costly  war  this 
would  be  in  truth. 

Throughout  the  Mohammedan  Soudan  there  is  a  wide- 
spread belief  in  the  unfailing  efficacy  of  water  which  has 
been  subject  to  the  charm  of  imbibing  the  virtue  of  leaves  of 
paper  inscribed  with  texts  from  the  Koran ;  to  the  Nubians, 
this  infusion  is  the  best  of  medicine. 

According  to  their  notions,  all  diseases  may  be  divided 
into  two  classes ;  those  that  are  caused  by  "  haboob  "  (wind)^ 

Vol.  II.— 23 


326  THE  HEART  OF  AFEICA. 

and  those  that  are  caused  by  "  damm  "  (blood).  For  purify- 
ing and  cooling  the  blood  their  specific  remedies  are  infu- 
sions of  pepper,  cloves,  and  other  spices.  Not  a  day,  and 
hardly  an  hour,  passed  during  my  residence  in  the  Seribas 
without  my  being  a  witness  to  some  action  prompted  by  one 
or  other  of  their  ingrained  superstitions.  The  "  evil  eye," 
which  it  is  well  known  is  dreaded  by  all  the  people  on  the 
Mediterranean,  plays  a  prominent  part  amongst  them.  No 
one  is  ever  seen  to  eat  alone,  or  even  known  to  eat  in  private, 
and  no  food  is  ever  carried  across  the  road  without  being 
carefully  covered.  The  invitation  "  bes-millah,"  which  is 
heard  amongst  the  people  as  they  sit  at  table,  is  by  no  means 
uttered  because  there  is  a  lack  of  envy  and  selfishness. 
Before  the  tongue  of  any  animal^  is  eaten,  the  tip  has  to  be 
cut  off,  for  here,  they  say,  is  the  seat  of  all  curses  and  evil 
wishes,  and  even  the  tongues  of  sheep  and  oxen  are  not 
served  up  until  they  have  been  subject  to  this  treatment. 

It  is  well  known  that  most  dogs  have  a  few  white  hairs 
at  the  extreme  tip  of  the  tail ;  this  tip,  they  declare,  must 
be  removed,  otherwise  the  animal  will  not  thrive.  Altogether 
their  fancies  about  dogs  are  most  absurd ;  they  adhere  to  the 
belief  that  to  inhale  their  breath  would  be  followed  by 
grievous  consequences,  and  that  the  worst  internal  disorders, 
such  as  consumption  and  dropsy,  would  infallibly  ensue. 
Every  Nubian  dreads  hearing  a  dog  howl,  and  I  was  not  a 
little  surprised  at  finding  in  this  remote  land  a  superstition 
that  is  common  in  many  parts  of  Europe,  and  which  I 
remember  having  met  with  in  Hungary.  The  superstition 
to  which  I  refer  is,  that  whenever  a  dog  howls  (and  that  is 
not  seldom,  for  it  will  do  so  on  hearing  a  donkey  bray)  it 
betokens  the  approaching  death  of  its  master. 

One  of  their  practices  is  as  disgusting  as  it  is  strange. 
They  suppose  it  will  give  them  strength  to  apply  the  sweat 
of  their  horses  to  their  own  bodies.  After  a  ride  they  scrape 
off  the  sweat  from  their  horse's  back  with  their  hand,  and  rub 


MOEE  PEE.JTDICES.  327 

it  about  their  persons,  just  in  the  same  way  as  if  they  were 
using  one  of  their  ordinary  greasy  ointments.  All  3Ioham- 
medans  have  peculiar  ideas  about  what  is  clean  and  unclean. 
A  horse  is  not  an  unclean  animal,  and  therefore  its  sweat 
cannot  be  supposed  to  defile  a  man.  By  the  same  rule, 
nothing  impure  can  proceed  from  a  man,  because  man  is  not 
an  unclean  animal.  This  theory  of  theirs  is  exemplified 
when  a  group  of  travellers  is  seen  squatting  on  the  ground 
preparing  their  cooling  drinks ;  with  their  dirty  hands  they 
will  squeeze  the  tamarinds  into  the  water,  and  their  draught 
is  ready ;  that  a  couple  of  sticks  would  be  in  any  way  a  more 
wholesome  or  seemly  device  appears  never  to  have  entered 
their  thoughts.  Li  order  to  express  his  disgust  at  anything 
dirty  or  impure,  the  traveller  must  either  invent  some 
phraseology  of  his  own,  or  must  signify  his  disapprobation  in 
the  words :  '•  Take  that  away :  it  is  niggis"  {i.e.  unclean  in 
a  religious  sense) :  the  Arabic  terms  for  dirt  being  quite 
inadequate  to  convey  the  right  idea. 

I  should  not  omit  to  mention  that  there  are  certain  pre- 
judices about  the  fabrication  of  European  products  that  are 
shared  by  all  the  inhabitants  of  the  Soudan.  They  believe 
that  gum-arabic  is  in  such  demand  in  Europe  only  because 
the  Franks  use  it  for  making  their  glass-ware,  and  especially 
their  beads.  Cigars,  they  say,  are  rolled  up  from  tobacco 
that  has  been  soaked  in  spii'its  to  give  it  pungency  ;  conse- 
quently no  true  believer  can  be  induced  to  put  one  to  his 
lips.  All  preserves  are  supposed  to  contain  pork,  or  at  any 
rate  to  be  mixed  \shh.  pigs'  fat ;  otherwise,  why  should  they 
be  introduced  into  the  country  ?  Cheese,  a  product  that  is 
utterly  unknown  amongst  the  pastoral  tribes  of  Africa,  from 
the  people  of  Morocco  to  the  Bishareen  on  the  Ked  Sea,  and 
trom  the  Dinka  to  the  Kafiii's,  is  imagined  to  be  composed  of 
pigs'  milk,  a  fact  which  accounts  for  the  predilection  of  the 
Europeans  for  it. 

I  could  go  on  reciting  a  hundred  of  the  absurd  prejudices 


328  '  THE  HEART  OF  AFRICA. 

and  misconceptions  of  the  Nubians,  but  having  given  ex- 
amples of  their  failings,  I  will  now  say  a  few  words  in 
commendation  and  recognition  of  the  better  qualities  of  my 
old  friends.  There  are  certain  peculiarities  of  their  character 
that  may  be  described  as  actual  virtues.  The  Nubian  is  far 
less  cringing  and  servile  to  his  superiors  than  the  Egyptian : 
the  title  *'  Seedy  "  (my  lord),  which  is  continually  heard  in 
ordinary  conversation  amongst  the  Egyptians,  is  never  heard 
from  his  lips.  One  day  I  asked  my  servants  why  they 
persisted  in  addressing  me  by  the  meagre  and  pointless 
term  "Musyoo,"  when  their  language  provided  them  with 
a  courteous  word  like  "Seedy,"  which  is  always  used  in 
Egypt.  They  at  once  replied  that  "  Seedy "  meant  lord, 
and  that  they  acknowledged  no  lord  but  the  one  All- 
powerful  Allah. 

I  have  already  mentioned  the  romantic  tone  of  conversa- 
tion used  by  all  Nubians,  high  and  low,  even  on  the  most 
trifling  subjects,  and  how,  in  this  respect,  they  form  a  striking 
contrast  to  the  Egyptians,  who  are  ever  harping  on  money 
and  business. 

Another  very  laudable  trait  in  the  character  of  the  Nubians 
is  their  moderation  in  eating ;  they  eat  little,  but  quickly ; 
their  meals  seem  to  occupy  them  but  a  few  moments,  and 
it  is  remarkable  with  what  enjoyment  they  will  gulp  down 
their  frugal  repast  of  tough  kissere.  They  are  not  at  all 
dainty,  and  do  not  seem  to  covet  tit-  bits  of  any  descrip- 
tion ;  they  never  helped  themselves  to  any  of  my  delicacies, 
though  amongst  the  Egyptians  and  the  true  negroes,  I  was 
always  obliged  to  keep  my  sugar-basin  in  a  place  of  security. 
Their  outbreaks  of  intemperance  over  their  abominable 
merissa  stand  out  in  strong  and  sad  contrast  to  their  other- 
wise perfect  moderation. 

Amongst  their  physical  qualities  I  may  especially  remark 
their  powers  of  marching  ;  they  are  the  best  walkers  that  I 
know,  and  seem  formed  for  tramping  along  the  wildernesses 


EXCUESION  TO  EGYPTIAN  CAMP.  329 

of  Africa.  Turks  and  Egyptians  are  rarely  seen  ia  the  Seribas 
of  the  Upper  Nile  district,  and  mainly  for  the  reason  that  in 
marching  they  are  unable  to  keep  pace  with  the  Nubians. 

Although  they  are  more  lively  and  excitable  than  the 
Turks  and  Egyptians,  the  Nubians  exhibit  a  more  decided 
idleness  and  dislike  to  work  than  either  of  them ;  hence  pro- 
ceeds that  utter  want  of  order  and  regularity  in  their  house- 
holds which  is  so  conspicuous  everywhere,  and  to  overcome 
which  would  require  more  energy  than  they  are  ever  likely 
to  display.  It  is  true  that  they  are  free  from  some  of  the 
more  revolting  vices  of  the  Turks,  such  for  instance  as  opmm- 
eating,  but  they  indulge  in  the  same  lascivious  excesses,  and 
have  the  same  hankering  after  stimulants  when  their  physical 
powers  flag  or  fail  to  answer  to  those  demands  of  an  insatiable 
imagination,  which  have  become  a  second  nature  in  the 
degenerate  nations  of  the  East. 

My  condition  was  somewhat  ameliorated,  but  I  was  still  in 
want  of  many  common  necessaries.  Hitherto  I  had  been 
quite  unable  to  find  anything  that  could  compensate  for  the 
boots  and  shoes  I  had  lost.  In  the  hope,  therefore,  of  obtain- 
ing some  of  the  things  I  so  much  required  from  amongst  the 
effects  of  the  deceased  Turkish  Sandjak,  I  resolved  to  make 
an  excursion  to  the  Egyptian  camp.  A  series  of  settlements 
belonging  to  various  Khartoomers  would  be  passed  along  the 
route,  and  by  stopping  at  these  I  might  not  only  break  my 
journey,  but  might  get  an  opportunity  in  addition  of  gaining 
information  about  that  portion  of  the  frontier  of  the  Upper 
Nile  territory. 

The  camp  of  the  Government  was  situated  close  to  the 
chief  settlement  of  the  most  powerful  of  all  the  Khartoom 
Seriba  owners,  Seebehr  Rahama,  who  himself  resided  there. 
His  territory  included  the  western  portion  of  the  district 
occupied  by  the  Khartoomers,  and  was  immediately  adjacent 
to  the  most  southerly  outposts  of  the  Sultan  of  Darfoor.  A 
few  days  before  I  started  on  this  little  journey  to  the  west,  a 


330  THE  HEART  OF  AFRICA. 

circumstance  had  occurred  that  had  thrown  all  the  in- 
habitants of  this  Seriba  into  a  great  commotion,  and  which 
did  not  augur  altogether  well  for  my  projected  tour,  A 
conflict  had  broken  out  between  the  black  Government 
troops  and  Seebehr's  Nubian  soldiers,  and  twenty  Nubians  as 
well  as  many  of  the  negroes  had  lost  their  lives  in  the  fray. 
The  Turkish  bazibozuks,  instead  of  remaining  neutral,  had 
joined  in  the  affair  and  taken  part  against  the  blacks.  The 
reason  of  this  coalition  between  the  Egyptian  Turks  and  the 
Nubian  settlers  was,  that  the  Turkish  commander  had  given 
orders  that  their  common  enemy,  Hellali,  should  be  seized 
and  imprisoned.  This  Hellali,  it  will  be  remembered,  was 
the  man  who  had  been  appointed  to  the  special  command  of 
the  black  troops  of  the  Government,  and  who  had  repre- 
sented himself  as  the  owner  of  the  copper-mines  in  the  south 
of  Darfoor,  stating  that  they  had  to  pay  him  4000  dollars 
annually.  He  was  really  the  cause  of  the  present  quarrel, 
and  the  events  that  led  to  his  imprisonment  will  not  take 
long  to  describe. 

Hellali  had  drawn  upon  himself  the  odium  of  all  the 
Khartoomers,  because,  by  alleging  himself  to  be  the  owner 
of  the  land  in  the  south  of  Darfoor,  he  threw  doubt  upon 
their  legal  right  to  the  soil  on  which  they  had  founded  their 
Seribas;  he  was  consequently  summoned  to  Khartoom  to 
give  an  account  of  his  conduct.  All  the  representations  by 
which  he  had  induced  the  Viceroy  to  undertake  the  expedi- 
tion to  the  Gazelle  had  turned  out  to  be  nothing  but  the 
fraudulent  devices  of  a  swindler  ;  Hellali  had  never  possessed 
land  in  this  district  at  all,  and  much  less  had  received  any 
grant  of  territory  from  the  Sultan  of  Darfoor.  For  months 
it  had  been  rumoured  that  he  intended  to  retire  with  his 
black  troops  to  that  part  of  the  country,  and  in  spite  of  his 
appeal  to  the  seal  and  signature  of  his  Highness,  by  virtue 
of  which  he  claimed  possession  of  the  lands,  the  suspicion 
against  him  increased  to  such  an  extent  that  the  Turkish 


HELLALI.  331 

oommander  appeared  to  be  justified  in  proceeding  to  violent 
measures  against  the  alleged  favourite  of  the  Viceroy.  The 
conflict  that  now  arose  determined  the  matter  ;  Hellali  had 
been  the  mainspring  of  the  quarrel  with  Seebehr's  people, 
and  thus,  as  I  have  said,  his  capture  brought  about  a  recon- 
ciliation between  the  Turks  and  the  Xubians. 

The  immediate  cause  of  the  disagreement  may  now  be 
related.  Hellali  had  ordered  His  soldiers  to  make  requisi- 
tions of  corn  upon  the  natives  under  Seebehr's  jurisdiction, 
who  had  hitherto  been  accustomed  to  furnish  contributions 
to  none  but  their  own  master.  The  strange  troops  were 
proceeding  by  violence  to  appropriate  to  themselves  the 
contents  of  the  granaries,  when  the  Nubian  soldiers,  with 
Seebehr  himself  at  their  head,  sallied  out  from  the  Seriba, 
and  attempted  to  drive  off  the  intruders.  Hellali's  people 
immediately  opened  fire  upon  the  Nubians,  and  the  very  first 
shot  wounded  Seebehr  in  the  ankle.  This  was  the  signal  for 
a  general  battle,  and  many  lives  were  lost  on  either  side. 
For  the  first  few  days  the  Egyptian  camp,  so  near  the 
Seriba  as  it  was,  was  in  imminent  danger,  and  could  with 
difBculty  hold  its  own  against  the  ever-increasing  numbers 
of  antagonists,  for  of  course  all  the  neighbours  hastened  to 
the  assistance  of  Seebehr,  whose  fighting  force  already 
amounted  to  more  than  a  thousand.  In  this  dilemma  the 
Turkish  commander  was  obliged  to  resort  to  the  diplomatic 
measure  to  which  I  have  referred,  so  as  to  avert  the  serious 
consequences  that  threatened  himself  and  his  troops. 


CHAPTER   XXI. 

Fresh  wanderings,  Dyoor  remedy  for  wounds.  Crocodiles  in  the  Ghetty. 
Former  residence  of  Miss  Tinne.  Dirt  and  disorder.  The  Baggara- 
Eizegat.  An  enraged  fanatic.  The  Pongo.  Frontiers  of  the  Bongo 
and  Golo.  A  buffalo-calf  shot.  Idrees  Wod  Defter's  Seriba.  Golo  dia- 
lect. Com  magazines  of  the  Golo.  The  Kooroo.  The  goats'  brook. 
Increasing  level  of  land.  Seebehr's  Seriba  Dehm  Nduggoo.  Discontent 
of  the  Turks.  Visit  to  an  invalid.  Ibrahim  Effendi.  Establishment  of 
the  Dehms.  Nubians  rivals  to  the  slave-dealers.  Population  of  Dar 
Ferteet.  The  Kredy.  Overland  route  to  Kordofan.  Shekka.  Copper 
mines  of  Darfoor.    Raw  copper. 

The  third  New  Year's  Day  that  I  passed  on  African  soil  now 
dawned,  and  it  was  precisely  on  the  1st  of  January,  1871,, 
that  I  found  myself  starting  off  upon  my  long-projected 
tour  to  the  west.  I  left  my  little  Tikkitikki  to  the  tem- 
porary guardianship  of  Khalil,  and  set  out  accompanied  by 
two  of  my  servants,  the  negro  lads,  and  the  few  bearers  that 
were  necessary  to  carry  the  little  remnant  of  my  property. 

My  scheme  was  first  of  all  to  pay  a  visit  to  Bizelly's 
Seriba,  thirty-two  miles  to  the  north-west,  the  same  that  had 
been  Miss  Tinne's  headquarters  seven  years  previously  ;  and 
as  the  controller  happened  to  be  passing  through  Kurshook 
All's  Seriba  on  his  return  from  a  business  tour,  I  was  glad  to 
avail  myself  of  the  chance  of  travelling  in  company  with  one 
who  was  well  acquainted  with  the  country.  The  name  of  this 
man  was  Bakhit  Yussuf ;  he  was  a  negro  by  birth,  and  had 
formerly  been  in  the  service  of  Kleinczniek,  a  Hungarian, 


AN  UNCOUKTEOUS  VOKEEL.  333 

who  at  the  time  of  Miss  Tinne's  expedition  had  owned  a 
Seriba  in  the  Kozanga  mountains,  and  who  by  the  shameless 
way  in  which  he  had  prosecuted  the  slave-trade,  had  fallen 
under  the  censure  of  the  Khartoom  authorities. 

We  crossed  the  Wow  at  the  same  wooded  spot  as  we  had 
done  in  April  1869.  This  river,  the  Nyenahm  of  the  Dyoor, 
the  Herey  of  the  Bongo,  during  the  rainy  season  has  a 
depth  of  fourteen  to  sixteen  feet  without  ever  overflowing 
its  banks ;  even  at  this  date  the  bed  of  the  noble  forest- 
stream  was  still  quite  covered  with  water,  the  depth  of  which 
near  the  banks  was  three  or  four  feet,  decreasing  in  the 
iniddle  of  the  current  to  less  than  two  feet.  The  varying 
depth,  however,  did  not  affect  the  velocity,  which  was  uniform 
throughout  and  about  ninety-eight  feet  a  minute.  The  width 
of  the  Wow  I  found  by  careful  measurement  to  be  132 
feet. 

Beyond  the  river  we  passed  through  cultivated  lands, 
leaving  Agahd's  chief  Seriba  on  our  left ;  we  then  crossed  a 
low  range  of  hills  stretchiag  towards  the  north-east,  and 
brought  our  day's  march  to  an  end  in  the  hamlet  of  a  Dyoor 
chief  named  Dimmoh,  where  we  encamped  for  the  night. 
I  had  purposely  avoided  entering  the  Seriba  Wow,  although 
it  was  quite  within  reach,  my  reason  being  that  I  had  recently 
been  aggrieved  by  the  behaviour  of  the  acting  Vokeel,  one 
of  the  few  men  of  Turkish  origin  who  had  settled  in  the  land. 
A  short  time  previously  I  had  despatched  a  document  of  con- 
siderable importance  to  myself,  containing  a  narrative  of  my 
late  misfortunes,  directing  it  to  the  commander  of  the  Egyp- 
tian camp,  so  that  through  him  it  might  be  put  on  the  right 
track  for  Europe,  v«a  Kordofan;  but  although  the  controllers 
of  all  the  other  Seribas  had  readily  passed  on  my  despatch 
from  place  to  place  by  means  of  special  messengers,  this 
Turkish  Vokeel  had  sent  it  back  to  me  with  the  paltry 
excuse  that  he  had  received  no  instructions  from  myself  per- 
sonally as  to  where  he  should  forw  urd  it.  I  was  thus  compelled 


334  TIIIC  HEART  OF  AFRICA. 

to  be  the  bearer  of  my  own  papers  as  far  as  the  Egyptian 
camp  in  Seebehr's  Seriba,  whence  I  hoped  to  be  able  to  send 
them  on  by  one  of  the  slave  caravans  that  made  the  place 
their  starting-point. 

Our  night-camp  afforded  me  an  opportunity  of  renewing 
my  familiarity  with  the  idyllic  village  life  of  the  Dyoor.  The 
sorghum  harvest  had  long  been  gathered  in,  and  the  dokhn 
iiad  been  safely  stored  in  the  great  urn-like  bins  that  were 
so  essential  a  fixture  in  every  hut ;  a  second  crop  was  now  in 
course  of  being  housed,  consisting  of  the  kindy  (Hyjjtis)  that 
springs  up  between  the  stubble,  many  of  the  women  being 
engaged  in  the  task,  which  is  very  tedious,  of  cleansing  the 
poppy-like  seeds.  About  the  fields  were  lying  many  of 
those  strange  cylinder-shaped  melons,  which  appear  to  be 
peculiar  to  the  Dyoor,  with  their  rind  like  that  of  the  bottle- 
gourd  and  as  hard  as  wood.  There  were  also  large  numbers 
of  the  fleshy  variegated  calyces  of  the  Sabdariffa  dried  all 
ready  for  storing,  a  condition  in  which  they  retain  their 
pungency,  and  serve  the  purpose  of  giving  the  soups  of  the 
natives  an  aCid  flavour  almost  as  sharp  as  vinegar. 

Several  of  the  old  men  and  women  that  I  saw  looked  very 
decrepit ;  a  circumstance  which  I  mention,  because  amongst 
the  Bongo,  slaves  to  heathen  superstition  as  they  are,  I  never 
noticed  a  single  individual  whose  hair  was  grey. 

I  was  a  witness  here  of  what  struck  me  as  a  very  singular 
method  of  treating  wounds.  A  boy's  knee  had  been  grazed, 
and  I  saw  a  woman  apply  some  of  the  acrid  juice  of  the 
Modecca  ahyssinica.  Forskal,  who  discovered  the  plant  in 
Arabia,  where  it  goes  by  the  name  of  *'  Aden,"  says  that 
pulverized  and  taken  internally  it  causes  a  swelling  of  the 
limbs  that  does  not  fail  to  terminate  fatally.  The  Dyoor 
woman  scraped  the  rind  off  a  piece  of  the  stem,  and  having 
expressed  the  juice  from  the  soft  pulp  spread  it  upon  a 
damp  leaf;  this  was  laid  as  a  plaster  upon  the  wound  and 
covered  with  another  leaf.     I  could  not  help  regretting  that 


THE  HAMLETS  OF  WOLL.  335 

time  did  not  allow  me  to  ascertain  the  efficiency  of  the 
operation. 

The  nights  were  calm  and  beautifully  starlight,  so  that 
our  rest  in  the  open  air  was  very  enjoyable,  and  we  started 
off  each  morning  before  sunrise  with  our  energies  thoroughly 
requickened. 

After  going  awhile  uphill  over  some  rocky  ground  we 
came  to  a  declivity  of  nearly  a  hundred  feet ;  at  the  bottom 
of  this  we  had  to  cross  a  wide  swampy  depression  covered 
with  the  Terminalia  forests  that  so  often  characterise  such 
localities.  The  holes  and  hollows,  although  they  were  now 
completely  dry,  gave  ample  testimony  as  to  what  must  be 
the  number  of  the  pools  that  would  obstruct  the  path  durmg 
the  height  of  the  rainy  season.  In  a  short  time  we  reached  the 
hamlets  of  a  Dyoor  chief  named  Woll,  that  were  scattered 
about  an  open  plain  covered  with  cultivated  fields  ;  this  was 
the  frontier  of  Bizelly's  territory.  A  tree  something  like  an 
acacia,  the  Entada  sudanica,  remarkable  for  its  pods,  a  foot 
long  and  thin  as  paper,  and  breaking  into  numbers  of  pieces 
when  ripe,  was  the  chief  feature  in  the  bush-forests  of  the 
environs,  although  it  is  a  tree  which  is  generally  rare  in 
the  country. 

The  bearers  with  whom  Khalil  had  supplied  me  were  here 
dismissed,  their  place  being  taken  by  others  who  had  come 
up  at  the  orders  of  Bakhit  Yussuf.  WoU's  people  were  very 
busy  collecting  their  iron-ore  and  putting  their  smelting- 
furnaces  into  readiness  for  use.  In  the  vicinity  of  the  village 
there  was  an  iron-mine  similar  to  that  near  Kurshook  All's 
Seriba. 

Over  rocky  soil  and  through  tracts  of  dense  bushwood  we 
marched  on,  until  in  front  of  us  we  saw  a  kind  of  valley- 
plateau,  bare  of  trees,  apparently  shut  in  on  the  farther  side 
by  an  eminence  extending  towards  the  north-east,  which  is 
the  general  direction  of  the  territory  of  the  Dyoor  in  this 
dibtrict.     Here  we  entered  a  little  Seriba  of  Bizelly's,  known 


336  THE  HEAllT  OF  AFRICA. 

by  the  name  of  Kurnuk,*  where  we  were  well  entertained 
during  the  midday  hours, 

lu  the  afteraoon  we  set  ofif  again,  and  mounted  the  wooded 
heiglit  covered  with  great  tracts  of  the  GoU  tree  {Prosopis), 
which  is  noticeable  for  producing  a  fruit  very  like  the  St. 
John's  bread.  Then  again  descending,  we  came  to  the  dried- 
up  bed  of  a  watercourse  that  was  closely  overhung  with 
bushes.  Beyond  this  were  various  cultiva,ted  plots,  dotted 
here  and  there  with  huts ;  and  we  next  entered  a  splendid 
forest  of  lofty  Humboldtiae,  which  by  its  extent  and  dense- 
ness  reminded  me  of  our  own  European  woods.  Our  path 
was  shaded  by  these  noble  trees  until  we  reached  the  Ghetty, 
or  "  Little  Wow,"  six  miles  above  the  spot  where  Dr.  Steudner 
lies  buried  on  its  bank. 

This  tributary  of  the  Dyoor  was  about  as  large  as  the 
Molmul  near  Aboo  Guroon's  Seriba ;  its  bed  was  between 
fifty  and  sixty  feet  wide ;  its  banks  were  ten  feet  high.  At 
present  it  was  little  more  than  a  narrow  ditch,  with  no  per- 
ceptible motion  in  its  waters,  but  I  was  told  that  lower  down 
it  widened  out  into  pools  that  were  ahvays  full  of  water. 
But  insignificant  as  the  Ghetty  looked,  it  was  large  enough 
to  be  the  resort  of  crocodiles  so  daring  and  voracious  that 
they  were  the  terror  of  the  neighbourhood,  the  rapacity  of 
the  creatures  very  probably  arising  from  a  prevalent  scarcity 
of  fish.  A  few  weeks  previously,  when  the  stream  was  full 
to  the  top  of  its  banks,  a  Dyoor  boy  as  he  was  swimming 
across  had  been  snapped  at  by  one  of  these  ravenous  Saurians 
and  had  never  been  seen  again.  It  is  surprising  in  the  dry 
season,  into  what  tiny  pools  and  puddles  the  crocodile  will 
make  its  way,  and  where,  buried  in  the  miry  clay,  it  will  find 
a  sufficiently  commodious  home.     In  comparison  with  these 


*  "  Kurnuk  "  is  the  term  used  by  the  Nubians  and  Foorians  for  a  shed ;  the 
corresponding  expression  in  the  Soudan  Arabic  being  "  Daher-el-Tor,"  literally, 
tlie  back  of  an  ox ;  thus  "  kurnuk  "  means  generally  any  roof  with  a  horizontal 
ridge. 


PREDECESSORS  ON  THE  SOIL.  337 

pools  the  tanks  with  which  the  specimens  in  the  aquariums 
of  our  zoological  gardens  are  provided  must  be  fully  if  not 
superfluously  spacious.  Wlien  kept  in  confinement  the 
crocodile  makes  scarcely  any  perceptible  growth ;  and  from 
this  circumstance  of  the  slow  increase  of  its  bulk  the 
inference  seems  necessarily  to  follow  that  the  creature  lives 
to  a  great  age. 

The  Ghetty  is  bordered  by  bushes  nearly  identical  with 
those  which  are  found  on  the  banks  of  all  the  streamlets  of 
this  land ;  the  Morelia  senegdlensis,  the  Zizygium,  and  the 
Trichilia  retusa  may  be  noted  as  amongst  the  most  common. 

I  was  told  that  Bizelly's  head  Seriba,  known  amongst  the 
Bongo  as  Doggaya  Onduppo,  was  situated  upon  the  right 
bank,  about  eight  leagues  to  the  north-west  of  the  spot  where 
we  crossed  the  stream,  which  here  forms  the  boundary  be- 
tween the  Wow  tribe  of  the  Dyoor  and  the  district  populated 
by  the  Bongo.  We  continued  to  advance  for  another  league 
and  a  half,  going  up  a  densely-wooded  acclivity  until  at 
length,  fairly  tired  out  with  our  exertions,  we  entered,  quite 
late  in  the  evening,  Bizelly's  subsidiary  Seriba,  called  by  the 
Bongo  Doggaya-morr. 

Here,  for  the  first  time,  I  found  myself  on  what  my  scien- 
tific predecessors  had  made  what  to  my  mind  was  nothing 
less  than  a  classic  soil.  Here  it  was  that  Theodor  von 
Heuglin  had  resided  from  the  17th  of  April,  1863,  to  the 
4th  of  January,  1864 ;  here,  or  at  least  in  an  adjacent  vil- 
lage of  the  Wow  tribe,  had  Dr.  Steudner  *  expired ;  and  close 
n  the  vicinity  had  ]\Iiss  Tinne  passed  through  a  period  of 
wretchedness  which  all  her  wealth  was  powerless  to  prevent. 
Never  could  I  leave  the  Seriba  without  being  conscious  that 


*  Dr.  Steudner  died  on  the  10th  of  April,  18G3,  from  an  attack  of  fever,  a 
few  days  after  that,  in  company  with  Heuglin,  he  had  commenced  liis  first 
journey  into  the  interior  ;  his  object  had  been  to  reconnoitre  the  country  to 
the  west  of  the  Meshera,  and  to  find  a  suitable  plaoe  for  the  accommodation 
of  Miss  Tinne''s  party  during  the  rainy  season 


338  THE  HEART  OF  AFRICA. 

every  shrub  and  every  plant  was  a  memorial  of  those  who 
had  been  before  me,  for  all  were  representatives  of  that 
hitherto  unknown  flora  of  which  Heiiglin  had  collected  the 
first  botanical  data,  and  w^hich  Dr.  Kotschy  has  depicted  in 
his  noble  work  'Plantee  Tinnianse,'  partly  from  the  drawings 
of  Miss  Tinne  herself. 

Within  the  Seriba,  too,  I  was  constantly  reminded  of  the 
miserable  condition  to  which  this  expedition,  so  comprehen- 
sive in  its  original  design,  had  been  reduced.  The  region 
bore  every  token  of  having  an  unhealthy  climate.  The 
stagnant  meadow-waters  and  foul  streams  all  around  had  all 
the  appearance  of  being  veritable  and  prolific  breeding-places 
lor  fever  and  malaria.  A  great  ruined  tenement,  now  a  mere 
lodgment  for  sheep  and  goats,  marked  the  spot  where  the 
remains  of  Miss  Tinne's  mother,  who  fell  a  victim  to  the 
pernicious  climate,  were  temporarily  deposited  until  the 
opportunity  came  for  them  to  be  removed  to  her  distant 
home.  •  A  dejected  fate  indeed,  and  a  miserable  resting-place 
for  one  who  had  been  reared  amidst  the  comforts  and  luxu- 
ries of  the  highest  refinement. 

Before  leaving  Bizelly's  Seriba  we  received  intelligence 
of  the  murder  of  our  old  friend  Shol,  the  wealthy  Dinka 
princess,  into  the  details  of  whose  personal  charms  and 
associations  I  have,  in  an  earlier  page,  entered  xt'ith  some 
minuteness.  The  natives,  it  seems,  had  accused  her  of  in- 
viting the  "  Turks  "  into  the  country ;  and  as  many  of  the 
tribes  in  the  neighbourhood  had  been  exposed  to  attacks  from 
Kurshook  All's  troops,  they  determined  to  avenge  themselves 
on  Shol,  as  being  a  long-standing  ally  of  the  Khartoomers. 
Knowing  that  she  slept  alone  in  her  hut,  a  troop  of  men 
belonging  to  the  Wady  (a  tribe  settled  to  the  east  of  the 
Meshera)  set  out  by  night,  and  under  pretext  of  having 
business  with  Kurdyook,  her  husband,  knocked  at  her  door. 
She  had  no  sooner  appeared  in  answer  to  their  summons 
than  they  attacked  her  with  deadly  blows ;  and  setting  fire 


LOXGO.  339 

to  all  the  huts  drove  off  nearly  all  the  cattle  that  was  to  be 
found  in  the  place.  This  melancholy  piece  of  news,  coupled 
with  the  recent  defeat  of  the  Ehartoomers  by  the  Niam-niam, 
foreboded  ill  for  the  future  prospects  of  the  Seribas ;  by  Shol's 
death  the  vicinity  of  the  Meshera  would  lose  all  its  peaceful 
character,  and  there  was  no  longer  the  possibility  of  solitary 
boats  being  left  there  in  security  during  the  season  of  the 
rains. 

A  lovely  march  of  about  six  miles  to  the  north-west, 
through  an  almost  unbroken  and  in  many  places  very  dense 
bush-forest,  brought  us  to  Ali  Amoory's*  chief  Seriba,  dis- 
tinguished by  the  natives  by  the  name  of  Longo.  The  Parkia 
trees  were  just  beginning  to  bloom.  The  wonderful  spectacle 
that  these  presented  was  quite  unique  ;  their  great  trusses  of 
bright  red  blossoms,  large  as  the  fist  and  smooth  as  velvet, 
made  a  display  that  was  truly  gorgeous,  as  they  depended 
from  the  long  stalks  which  broke  forth  from  the  feathery 
foliage  of  the  spreading  crowns. 

Another  characteristic  of  the  scenery  was  the  Boxia  salici- 
folia,  that  appeared  in  great  abundance. 

In  spite  of  the  constant  traffic  between  the  different 
Seribas  there  seemed  to  be  no  lack  of  game;  traces  oi' 
hartebeests  were  everywhere  visible,  wliilst  the  little  ma- 
doqua  antelopes  bounded  like  apparitions  from  bush  to  bush. 
Guinea-fowls  were  just  as  prolific  as  in  the  wildest  deserts 
of  the  Niam-niam.  Heuglin,  no  inexperienced  sportsman, 
had  certainly  here  chosen  a  remunerative  ground  for  his 
zoological  researches. 

Our  path  was  crossed  by  three  watercourses,  which  were 
now  for  the  most  part  dry.  By  their  confluence  these  three 
streams  formed  an  important  tributary  of  the  Dyoor,  called 
the   Okuloh,    their   separate   names   before   their  junctiou, 


*  The  real  name  of  the  firm  is  Ali-Aboo-Amoon-.  and  it  has  acquired  an 
undesirable  notoriety  for  its  fraudulent  dealings  with  Jliss  Tinne's  expedition. 


840  THE  HEAKT  OF  AFKICA. 

reckoning  from  the  southernmost,  being  respectively  the 
Dangyah,  the  Matshoo,  and  the  Minnikinyee  or  "  fish-water ;" 
their  uniformly  north-eastern  direction  attested  the  material 
fall  in  the  level  of  the  ground  at  the  boundary  between  the 
rocky  soil  and  the  alluvial  plains  of  the  Dyoor. 

Lonsro  ranked  as  a  first-class  establishment.  It  contained 
a  larger  number  of  huts  than  even  Ghattas's  Seriba,  which 
it  surpassed  also  in  dirt  and  disorder.  Every  hedge  was 
crooked,  every  hut  stood  awry,  and  the  farmsteads  were  as 
ruined  as  though  they  had  for  years  been  abandoned  to  the 
ravages  of  rats  and  white  ants.  Disgusting  heaps  of  ashes 
and  scraps  of  food,  piles  of  rotten  straw,  hundreds  of  old 
baskets  and  gourd-shells  stood  as  high  as  one's  head  all  along 
the  narrow  alleys  that  parted  hut  from  hut ;  whilst  outside 
the  Seriba,  just  at  its  very  entrances,  there  were  masses  of 
mouldy  rubbish,  overgrown  with  the  most  noxious  of  fungus, 
that  rose  as  high  as  the  houses;  at  every  step  there  was 
sure  to  be  an  accumulation  of  some  abominable  filthiness  or 
other,  such  as  nowhere  else,  I  should  think,  even  in  the 
Mohammedan  world,  could  be  found  in  immediate  proximity 
to  human  habitations ;  altogether  the  place  presented  such 
a  dismal  scene  of  dirt,  decay,  and  disorder  that  it  was  enough 
to  induce  a  fit  of  nightmare  upon  every  one  with  the 
smallest  sense  of  either  neatness  or  decorum.  Truly  it  was  a 
wonderful  specimen  of  domestic  economy  which  this  horde 
of  undisciplined  Nubians  had  thus  elaborated. 

The  level  country  for  a  mile  or  more  round  the  Seriba 
was  occupied  by  the  arable  lands  belonging  to  the  settle- 
ment. Longo  was  one  of  the  oldest  establishments  in  the 
country,  and  the  adjacent  soil  was  no  less  productive  than 
that  around  the  Seriba  of  Ghattas.  The  Bongo  villages 
were  all  situated  at  some  distance  to  the  west. 

Amoory's  representative  agent,  Zelim,  had  formerly  been 
a  soldier,  one  of  the  Nizzam,  in  the  Turkish  service,  and  was 
a  native  of  the  wild  district  of  Baria,  in  the  mountains  of 


MUTUAL  CURIOSITY.  341 

Taka ;  he  was  now  absent  from  the  Seriba,  but  had  left 
orders  that  I  should  be  hospitably  entertained  and  that 
everything  which  his  stores  could  furnish  should  be  placed 
at  my  disposal.  A  grove  of  excellent  plantains  was  close 
at  hand,  from  which  I  obtained  a  bounteous  supply  of  that 
luscious  fruit. 

All  the  year  round  a  considerable  number  of  slave  traders 
resided  in  the  place,  and  were  always  attended  by  those  wild 
sons  of  the  steppes,  the  Baggara  of  the  Eizegat,  who,  with 
their  lean,  fly-bitten  cattle,  had  to  camp  out  as  well  as  they 
could  in  the  environs  of  the  Seriba.  They  had  never  before 
set  eyes  upon  a  Christian,  and  full  of  eager  wonder  they 
flocked  together  to  survey  me,  keeping,  however,  at  a  dis- 
tance of  several  yards  from  personal  contact,  probably  dread- 
ing the  malign  influence  of  the  "  evil  eye "  of  a  Frank. 
Their  curiosity  was  still  further  roused  when  they  saw  me 
drawing  pictures  of  their  cattle,  and  when  I  offered  them 
my  various  sketches  for  their  own  inspection  they  appeared 
to  lose  much  of  the  alarm  which  they  had  exhibited.  I 
rose  from  my  seat,  and  held  up  to  them  one  picture  after 
another ;  the  effect  was  little  short  of  magical ;  their  uncouth 
tones  seemed  to  soften  into  a  murmur  of  delight,  and  so 
effectually  had  I  succeeded  in  gaining  their  confidence  that 
some  of  them  were  induced  to  sit  for  their  own  portraits. 
All  those  that  I  drew  had  fine  light  brown  complexions, 
slim  muscular  frames,  and  perfectly  regular  features ;  the 
expression  of  the  face  might  fairly  be  pronounced  open  and 
honest,  and  exhibited  the  strong  resolution  that  might  be 
expected  of  a  warlike  nation  whose  occupations,  when  not  in 
the  battle-field,  were  in  hunting  and  cattle-breeding.  Their 
profiles  all  formed  quite  a  right  angle;  their  noses  failed  to 
be  aquiline,  but  were  rounded  and  well-formed ;  the  faces  of 
the  younger  men  were  good-tempered  looking,  having  a  some- 
what effeminate  expression,  which  was  still  further  increased 
by  the  high  round  forehead.    All  of  them  seemed  to  wear 

Vol.  II.— 24 


342  THE  HEART  OF  AFRICA. 

their  hair  in  long  slender  braids  running  in  rows  along  the 
top  of  the  head  and  drooping  over  the  neck  behind. 

As  I  was  pursuing  my  occupation,  and  quietly  taking  mi- 
series of  portraits,  watched  intently  by  a  hundred  spectators, 
who  stood  around  with  open  mouths  which  revealed  an 
astonished  admiration,  my  attention  was  all  at  once  arrested 
by  a  commotion  which  was  taking  place  just  outside  the 
circle  of  the  admirers.  An  old  fanatic  from  Darfoor  was 
raving  away  and  denouncing  loudly  what  he  pleased  to  call 
the  iniquity  of  my  proceedings;  he  professed  that  my 
pursuit  was  beyond  all  endurance,  and  that  he  was  not  going 
to  countenance  my  presumptuous  practices.  I  shouted  to 
the  old  rascal  to  hold  his  tongue,  to  mind  his  own  business, 
and  be  off,  and  most  of  the  bystanders  took  up  the  same 
strain,  some  beginning  to  taunt  and  jeer  tlie  fellow  with 
such  a  volley  of  satirical  laughter  that,  completely  dis- 
comfited, he  was  glad  to  skulk  off  as  quickly  as  he  could. 
I  could  not  resist  having  a  word  of  my  own,  and  just  as  he 
was  retiring  I  shouted  after  him,  for  his  comfort,  the  native 
proverb,  "  Trust  to  the  protection  of  the  Almighty  as  to  the 
shade  of  an  acacia,  but,"  I  added,  "  they  had  need  be  better 
acacias  than  those  of  your  miserable  land." 

On  the  6th  of  January  I  resumed  my  progress.  Taking  a 
south-westerly  direction  I  accomplished  a  good  day's  march 
of  eighteen  miles  and  reached  Damury,  Amoory's  subsidiary 
Seriba  on  the  Kiver  Pongo.  A  rocky  soil  covered  with 
bush  had  predominated  for  the  greater  portion  of  the  dis- 
tance, the  route  having  been  perfectly  level  and  unbroken 
by  the  smallest  depression.  We  had  crossed  the  beds  of 
five  brooks  which  were  nearly  dry.  Taking  them  in  order 
they  were,  the  Okilleah,  a  mere  line  of  stagnant  puddles; 
the  Kulloo,*  a  larger  brook  overhung  with  sizygium-bushes. 


*  "  Kulloo "  is  in  this  neighbourhood  the  generic  name  for  brooks  of  this 
character. 


A  PLANT  OF  HAPPY  OMEN,  343 

and  containing  water  as  high  as  one's  knees ;  the  Horroah,  a 
dry  hollow  bed ;  the  Daboddoo,  with  a  few  pools ;  and  the 
Ghendoo,  with  lioles  from  which  the  water  had  either  dried  up 
or. drained  away.  All  these,  when  supplied  with  water,  were 
tributary  to  the  Pongo,  and  flowed  towards  the  north-west. 

Midday,  between  the  KuUoo  and  the  Horroah,  we  had 
come  upon  a  gigantic  fig-tree  {Ficus  lufea),  one  of  those 
memorials  of  the  past  that  are  so  often  seen  in  Bongoland, 
marking,  as  they  do,  the  site  of  an  earlier  native  village. 
The  name  of  the  place  was  Ngukkoo.  The  enormous  tree 
had  a  short  stem  enveloped  in  a  perfect  network  of  aerial 
roots,  struck  downwards  from  the  branches,  whilst  at  the 
summit  it  spread  out  into  a  crown  of  foliage  that  under  the 
vertical  midday  sun  formed  a  shadow  on  the  ground  of  which 
the  circumference,  as  I  proved  by  actual  measurement,  was 
not  less  than  230  feet. 

During  the  latter  portion  of  the  march  we  had  seen  a 
considerable  number  of  candelabra  Euphorbise  and  Calotropis. 
The  appearance  of  the  Calotropis  (called  in  Arabic  "el 
XTsher")  was  indicative  of  a  more  northerly  type  of 
vegetation,  as  the  plant  is  characteristic  of  the  steppes  of 
Nubia,  Arabia,  and  the  frontiers  of  India :  this  was  the  first 
time  I  had  seen  it  in  the  territory  of  the  Seribas ;  the  "  el 
Usher  "  had  evidently  been  introduced  into  this  part  of  the 
country  by  traders  from  the  north,  and  the  solid  stems  of  the 
plants,  which  elsewhere  are  little  more  than  shrubs,  bore 
ample  witness  to  the  long-established  traffic  on  this  com- 
mercial highway.  The  explanation  of  the  extensive  diffu- 
sion of  this  plant  may  be  found  in  the  fact  that  the  silky 
down  that  covers  the  seeds  in  their  large  plump  pods  is 
used  as  a  material  for  stuffing  cushions.  In  the  northern 
steppes  its  appearing  in  sight  is.  ever  hailed  by  the  traveller 
as  a  happy  omen,  as  it  enjoys  the  reputation  of  always  having 
either  a  well  or  a  hidden  spring  of  fresh  water  in  its  imme- 
diate vicinity. 


344  THE  HEART  OF  AFRICA. 

Damury  was  situated  close  to  the  right-hand  bank  of  the 
Pongo,  as  the  Bongo  call  this  affluent  of  the  Bahr-el-Arab. 
On  earlier  maps  the  river  was  marked  as  the  Kozanga, 
but  this  I  found  to  be  merely  the  designation  of  a  small 
mountainous  ridge  that  extended  for  several  leagues  along 
the  left  bank  of  the  river  to  the  south-west  of  the  Seriba. 
On  the  17th  of  July,  1863,  Theodor  von  Heuglin*  had 
visited  the  spot  for  the  purpose  of  selecting  a  dry  and  rocky 
eminence  in  the  woods  where  a  camp  might  be  erected  for 
the  headquarters  of  Miss  Tinne's  expedition.  If  this  scheme 
had  been  carried  into  practice  the  melancholy  sacrifice  of 
life  that  resulted  from  the  unwholesome  atmosphere  of 
Bizelly's  Seriba  might  happily  have  been  spared;  but 
the  difficulties  of  properly  organising  so  large  a  party  of 
travellers  were  insuperable,  and  the  project  of  removal  to 
that  healthier  resort  fell  to  the  ground. 

The  transitoriness  which  seems  to  be  the  characteristic  of 
all  the  institutions  of  this  land  prevented  me  from  ascer- 
taining the  exact  site  of  the  dwelling-place  of  the  deceased 
Bongo  chief  Kulanda,  mentioned  by  Heuglin  in  his  account 
of  the  visit  he  made  to  the  place ;  but  from  the  comparison 
of  certain  points  of  correspondence,  I  entertain  no  doubt  but 
that  my  footsteps  were  then  upon  the  very  spot. 

In  its  upper  course  through  the  district  inhabited  by  the 
Sehre,  the  Pongo,  as  already  noted,  bears  the  name  of  the 
Djee ;  it  flows  towards  the  north-east,  and  after  leaving  the 
Bongo  territory  beyond  Damury  passes  through  that  of  the 
Dembo,  a  tribe  of  Shillook  origin  related  to  the  Dyoor :  on 
this  account  the  Khartoomers  call  it  the  Bahr-el-Dembo. 

The  Dembo  are  under  the  jurisdiction  of  Ali  Amoory, 
whose  territories  extend  far  beyond  the  river  to  the  north- 
west, and  join  the  country  of  the  Baggara-el-Homr,  his  most 
remote  Seribas  being  on  the  Gebbel  Marra,  in  the  locality  of 


*  This  was  the  most  westerly  point  that  Heuglin  reached  in  Central  Africa. 


THE  EIVER  PONG  0  345 

a  negro  tribe  called  the  Bambirry,  probably  also  a  branch 
of  the  great  Shillook  family  ;  but  it  should  be  stated  that, 
according  to  some  accounts,  these  Bambirry  are  true  Zandey 
Niam-niam  who  have  immigrated  from  the  south  and  settled 
in  their  present  quarters. 

The  scenery  about  Damury  was  extremely  like  that  around 
A  woory  in  the  Mittoo  country ;  in  fact  it  altogether  reminded 
me  of  what  I  had  seen  on  my  trip  to  the  Bohl,  especially  as 
the  Pongo  exhibits  not  a  few  points  of  resemblance  to  that 
river.  Damury  is  built  on  rising  rocky  ground,  thickly 
covered  with  wood,  and  close  to  the  eastern  or  Tight-hand 
bank  of  the  river.  The  slopes  that  enclosed  the  river-bed 
were  about  fifteen  feet  in  depth,  and  between  them  and  the 
actual  stream  there  was,  on  either  side,  a  strip  of  soil  subject 
to  inundation  during  the  rainy  season  and  now  broken  up 
with  numerous  pools  and  backwaters.  At  this  date  (January 
7,  1871)  the  water  was  moving  sluggishly  along  between 
clay  banks,  some  10  feet  down  and  70  feet  apart ;  but  the 
water  did  not  cover  a  breadth  of  more  than  fifty  feet  and  was 
nowhere  more  than  four  feet  in  depth.  Its  velocity  was  the 
same  as  that  of  the  Wow  ;  but  whilst  both  the  Wow  and  the 
Dyoor  rolled  along,  even  at  this  season,  in  considerable 
volume,  the  Pongo  was  comparatively  empty,  and,  as  I  saw, 
it  must  have  offered  a  very  striking  contrast  to  its  appearance 
during  the  Khareef,  when  no  doubt  it  could  make  good  its 
pretensions  to  be  a  river  of  the  second  class.  On  the  other 
side  of  the  Pongo  there  was  a  low  tract  of  steppe,  at  least 
3000  paces  wide,  which,  of  course,  represented  the  territory 
subject  to  inundation  on  the  left  bank.  I  subsequently 
found  that  the  entire  length  of  the  river,  from  its  source  to 
Damury,  could  not  at  the  most  exceed  200  miles,  and  thus 
became  able  more  completely  to  realise  the  very  remarkable 
periodic  changes  which  occur  in  the  condition  of  the  stream. 

In  various  parts  of  the  depression  the  vegetation  of  the 
open  steppe  is  replaced  by  close  masses  of  stephogyne:  these 


346  THE  HEART  OF  AFRICA. 

form  marshy  clumps,  and  from  their  general  habit  very 
strongly  resemble  our  alder-beds  of  the  north. 

Close  to  the  Seriba  a  deep  chasm,  called  Gumango,  opens 
out  into  the  valley  of  the  river ;  it  is  one  of  the  landslips,  so 
common  in  this  region,  caused  by  springs  washing  away  the 
ferruginous  swamp-ore  from  below,  and  an  inexperienced 
traveller  might  easily  be  led  to  mistake  it  for  the  bed  of  a 
periodical  watercourse  of  considerable  magnitude.  It  is 
thickly  overgrown  Avith  brambles  and  creepers.  The  shrub 
Tinnea  plays  a  prominent  part  in  the  underwoods  all  around 
Damury,  arnd  many  of  the  plants  that  are  found  growing  on 
the  dry  sand  of  the  bed  of  the  Pongo  may  be  considered  as 
true  representatives  of  the  flora  of  the  black  Nile-earth,  and 
prove  the  hydrographical  importance  of  the  stream. 

Just  above  the  Seriba  the  course  of  the  river  was  due  east 
for  a  distance  of  four  miles,  and  in  pursuing  our  westward 
journey  we  marched  along  the  left  bank  in  the  direction 
contrary  to  the  stream  until  we  arrived  at  the  spot  where  it 
made  its  bend  away  from  the  south.  Here  we  crossed.  The 
sandy  bed  was  not  more  than  100  feet  wide,  a  grassy  de- 
pression beyond  was  about  400  paces  across.  On  the  borders 
of  this  we  came  upon  some  ruined  huts  projecting  above  the 
grass,  evidently  the  remains  of  a  forsaken  Seriba  of  Bizelly's, 
which  had  likewise  been  called  Damury,  after  the  name 
of  the  Bongo  community  that  had  had  their  homes  in  the 
district.  The  Bongo  had  now  withdrawn  beyond  the  right 
bank  of  the  river,  and  thus  the  Pongo  had  been  left  as  the 
boundary  between  the  populated  country  and  the  actual 
wilderness.*  With  very  slight  deviations  the  remainder  of 
our  journey  to  Seebehr's  great  Seriba  was  in  a  direction  due 
west.  The  ground  rose  considerably,  and  on  our  left  was  a 
tall  eminence  of  gneiss,  called  Ida,  a  northern  spur  of  the 


*  In  the  dialect  of  the  Soudan  these  distinctions  are  respectively  rendered 
by  tlie  terras  "  Dar  "  (cultivated  land)  and  "  Akabah  "  (wilderness). 


THE  KAERA.  347 

Kozauga  ridge  and  (with  regard  to  our  present  position) 
about  500  feet  high.  A  deep  brook,  the  Ooruporr,  rising 
somewhere  on  the  slopes  of  this  Mount  Ida,  here  crossed  our 
path,  the  line  of  its  banks  being  distinctly  marked  out  by 
some  specimens  of  the  wild  date-palm.  A  little  farther  on 
we  came  to  a  dry,  deep  chasm,  that  formed  the  bed  of  a 
periodic  stream  known  as  the  Andimoh,  which  likewise 
descended  from  the  hill  of  Ida ;  its  banks  were  marked  by 
crags  of  gneiss  and  studded  with  bamboos. 

We  passed  onwards  over  masses  of  gneiss  almost  spherical 
in  form,  overgrown  with  moss-like  clusters  of  selaginella,  and 
reached  the  bed  of  the  brook  Karra,  lying  in  its  deep  hollow. 
To  this  little  stream  the  Nubians  gave  the  name  of  Khor-el- 
Ganna,  on  account  of  the  jungles  of  bamboo  that  enclose  its 
rocky  banks,  which  descend  in  successive  steps  so  as  to 
produce  a  series  of  cascades.  The  Bongo  reckon  the  Karra 
as  the  boundary  between  their  country  and  the  country  of 
the  Golo ;  it  is  also  considered  to  be  the  line  which  separates 
the  domain  of  the  landowner  Ali  Amoory  from  that  of 
Idrees  Wod  Defter,  whose  Seriba  is  about  thirty-five  miles 
from  Damury  and,  as  nearly  as  possible,  half  way  along  our 
route  thence  to  Seebehr's  chief  settlement. 

Beyond  the  Karra  the  path  led  over  very  undulated 
country ;  and  we  had  twice  to  cross  a  brook  called  Ya,  which, 
formed  mainly  of  a  series  of  deep  basins,  worked  its  devious 
way  along  a  contracted  defile.  Having  at  length  mounted  a 
steepish  eminence  of  red  rock  we  appeared  to  bring  our  long- 
ascent  to  an  end,  and  commencing  a  gradual  descent  we 
proceeded  till  we  reached  the  brook  Attidoh,  beside  which 
we  encamped  for  the  night. 

Large  herds  of  buffaloes  thronged  the  chief  pools  of  the 
swampy  bed,  and  before  it  became  quite  dark  I  managed  to 
creep  within  range  of  a  group  of  cows  with  their  calves. 
The  only  result  of  my  exertions  was  that  one  calf  fell  dead 
upon  the  spot   where  it   was   struck,   all  my  other   shots 


348  THE  HEART  OF  AFRICA. 

apparently  taking  no  effect.  Half  the  night  was  spent  in 
roasting,  broiling,  and  drying  the  flesh  of  the  young  buffalo, 
and  all  my  party  were  in  great  good  humour. 

The  forests  for  long  distances  were  composed  exclusively 
of  lofty  Humboldtiae,  and  increased  in  magnitude  and 
denseness  as  we  advanced  farther  amongst  them  ;  they  were 
so  fine  that  they  might  well  bear  comparison  with  any  of  the 
best  wooded  districts  of  the  Niam-niam.  We  crossed  a  half- 
dry  khor  (or  stream-channel)  called  the  Ngoory,  and  shortly 
afterwards  a  marshy  brook,  with  a  considerable  supply  of 
water,  called  the  Akumunah ;  both  of  these  joined  the 
Mongono,  of  which  the  bed  at  the  place  where  we  crossed 
it  was  so  dry  that  it  appeared  only  like  a  tract  of  sand, 
seventy  feet  wide ;  but  by  turning  up  the  loose  sand  to  the 
depth  of  six  inches,  a  copious  stream  of  clear  water  was 
discovered  to  be  running  on  its  subterranean  way  over  a 
gravelly  bottom.  In  the  rainy  season  the  Mongono  as- 
sumes quite  a  river-like  appearance,  for  I  discovered  traces 
of  important  backwaters  that  had  been  left  by  its  inundation, 
and  the  banks  that  bounded  its  sandy  bed  were  not  much 
less  than  eight  feet  high. 

A  little  rose-coloured  gentian,  the  Causcora,  characterises 
the  slopes  of  the  banks  of  this  streamlet,  growing  just  in  the 
same  luxuriant  manner  as  the  kindred  species  that  adorn  the 
sides  of  our  own  brooks.  The  frequent  appearance  of  the 
Abyssinian  Protea  convinced  me  that  the  elevation  of  the 
ground  was  greater  than  what  we  had  left  behind  us:  as 
matter  of  fact  we  were  at  an  average  height  of  2500  feet 
above  the  level  of  the  sea. 

The  Yow-Yow,  a  narrow  sort  of  trench,  made  up  of  a  series  of 
deep  pools,  next  intersected  our  path.  On  the  other  side  of 
this  I  mounted  a  crag  of  gneiss,  whence  I  obtained  an  exten- 
sive view  towards  the  west,  and  observed  an  elevated  line  of 
woods  stretched  out  with  the  precision  of  a  wall  from  S.S.W. 
to  N.N.E.     The  elevation  was  beyond  the  Athena,  a  brook 


IDEEES  WOD  DEFTER.  349 

that  we  reached  after  first  crossing  two  other  but  minor 
streams.  The  bed  of  the  Athena  was  formed  of  sand  and 
gravel ;  although  it  was  dry,  with  the  exception  of  some 
occasional  water-pools  that  had  not  failed,  it  was  fifty  feet  in 
width.  The  steepness  of  the  banks  demonstrated  that  in  the 
rainy  season  they  enclosed  what  would  be  allowed  to  be  a 
considerable  river.  Two*  more  brooks  with  deep  beds  had 
still  to  be  crossed,  and  then  we  entered  upon  the  cultivated 
land  adjacent  to  Idrees  Wod  Defter's  Seriba.  Two  miles 
more,  along  a  continuous  ascent,  brought  us  to  the  Seriba 
itself. 

Idrees  Wod  Defter  was  a  partner  in  Agahd's  firm.  His 
Seriba  had  been  built  about  three  years  previously,  and  was 
composed  of  large  farmsteads,  shut  in  almost  with  the' 
seclusion  of  monasteries  by  tall  hedges  of  straw-work ;  they 
were  occupied  by  the  various  great  slave-traders  who  had 
settled  in  the  country.  Four  huts  and  a  large  rokooba  had 
recently  been  erected  for  the  accommodation  of  the 
numerous  travellers  who  passed  through,  chiefly  composed  of 
second-class  traders,  who,  like  itinerant  Jews,  wandered  about 
trom  place  to  place,  hawking  their  goods.  Idrees  himself 
resided  in  his  Niam-niam  Seribas,  which,  .1  was  told,  were 
near  Mofio's  residence,  seven  or  eight  days'  journey  distant. 
Besides  this  chief  settlement  there  were  two  subsidiary 
Seribas,  one  about  four  leagues  to  the  south-east,  on  the 
western  declivity  of  the  Kozanga  hills,  and  another  at  the 
same  distance  to  the  south-west,  the  controller  of  which  was 
named  Abd-el-Seed.  The  farmsteads  of  the  chief  Seriba 
stood  in  their  separate  enclosures,  and  were  not  surrounded 
by  the  ordinary  palisade.  Close  by,  on  the  south,  a  little 
spring  trickling  forth  from  a  cleft  in  the  ground  suddenly 
expanded  into  a  clear  rippling  brook  that  ran  merrily  to  tlie 
west. 

The  natives  that  served  the  necessary  demands  of  the 
Seriba  belonged  to  the  tribe  of  the  Golo.     In  manners  and 


360  THE  HEART  OF  AFRICA. 

in  general  appearance  they  very  much  resemble  their 
eastern  neighbours  the  Bongo,  although  the  dialects  of  the 
two  tribes  have  very  little  in  common.  More  than  any 
other  negro  tongue  with  which  I  gained  much  familiarity, 
the  Golo  dialect  seems  to  abound  in  sounds  resembling  the 


Golo  'Woman. 


German  vowels  o  and  u,  and,  like  some  of  the  South  African 
dialects,  it  contains  some  peculiar  nasal  tones,  which  may  be 
described  as  sharp  and  snapping,  and  which  are  quite 
unknown  to  the  neighbouring  nations.  Another  peculiarity 
consists  in  the  frequent  occurrence  of  certain  lingual  sounds, 
which  in  a  measure  may  be  represented  by  ds  and  ts. 

Escorted  by  the  controller  of  the  Seriba  I  made  an  in- 
spection of  all  the  neighbouring  hamlets,  and  observed  that 
the  style  of  the  Golo  architecture  was  far  more  like  that  of 
the  Miam-niam  than  that  of  the  Bongo.  The  rooffe  of  the 
huts  projected  far  beyond  the  clay-walls,  and  were  supported 


MEETING  AN  OLD  FRIEND.  351 

on  light  posts  which  formed  a  colonnade,  the  walls  them- 
selves being  whitewashed  with  hyasna-dung. 

The  flora  of  the  bush  is  distinguished  by  large  numbers 
of  Eu^Jwrbia  venenifica,  which  is  only  sporadically  repre- 
sented in  this  district,  and  a  tree  of  a  type  which  is  rare 
in  the  southern  parts  of  Darfoor  and  Kordofan  and  in  the 
Western  and  Central  Soudan,  the  Eriodendron  anfractuosum, 
being  in  fact  the  "  cotton  tree  "  of  the  colonist,  was  planted 
near  the  Seribas  for  its  ornamental  qualities.  It  is  called 
"  ruhm  "  by  the  Fooriaus,  and  is  chiefly  remarkable  for  the 
verticillate  arrangement  of  its  branches,  separating  the  crown 
of  the  tree  into  divisions  distinct  from  each  other,  like  an 
araucaria — a  peculiarity  that  results  in  its  being  resorted  to 
by  the  poor  heathen  negroes  of  Baghirmy,  when  they  are  on 
the  look-out  fur  a  place  of  refuge  from  the  bauds  of  slave- 
hunters:  large  conical  prickles  of  an  immense  thickness 
cover  the  stem,  almost  like  the  clusters  of  barnacles  on  a  log 
of  wood  that  has  been  exposed  to  the  influence  of  the  sea. 

Just  as  I  was  on  the  point  of  leaving  the  Seriba  of  Idrees 
Wod  Defter,  my  old  friend  Mohammed  Aboo  Sammat 
arrived.  He  came  in  the  train  of  a  large  party  of  Bongo 
who  were  conveying  corn  to  the  place,  and  as,  like  myself, 
he  was  on  his  way  to  the  Egyptian  camp,  we  joined  company 
and  started  without  further  delay  to  the  west. 

Half  a  league  beyond  the  Seriba  we  left  the  cultivated 
land  and  re-entered  the  forest  wilderness  near  the  village  of 
the  Golo  chief  Kaza.  Far  and  wide  the  fields  were  sown 
with  sweet  potatoes,  and  dokhn  corn  was  extensively  culti- 
vated. In  the  village  of  Kaza  we  noticed  several  of  the 
peculiar  corn-magazines  upon  the  construction  of  which  the 
Golo  spend  so  much  care.  They  are  at  once  bold  and 
graceful  in  design.  Tlie  actual  receptacle  for  the  corn  is 
made  of  clay  and  is  in  the  form  of  a  goblet ;  it  is  covered 
with  a  conical  roof  of  straw,  which  serves  as  a  movable  lid ;  to 
protect  it  from  the  ravages  of  rats  it  is  mounted  on  a  short 


THE  HEART  OF  AFRICA. 


Com-magaziiie  of  the  Golo. 


substantial  pedestal,  that  is  supported  at  the  base  by  stakes 
arranged  as  a  series  of  flying  buttresses.     Altogether  the 

structure  is  very  symmetrical ; 
and  the  clay  is  worked  into 
tasteful  graduated  mouldings 
that  add  considerably  to  the 
general  finish  of  the  whole. 
The  dwelling  huts  of  the  Golo 
also  display  peculiarities  in 
their  style  of  building,  and 
bear  evident  marks  of  being 
erected  with  unusual  care  and 
labour. 

The  Seriba  we  had  just 
quitted  was  situated  on  the 
watershed  between  the  Kooroo 
and  the  Pongo.  We  crossed 
the  last  stream  in  the  Pongo 
system  just  beyond  Kaza's  hamlets ;  it  was  called  the 
Abbuloh,  and  was  now  thirty-five  feet  wide  and  two  feet 
deep.  Farther  on  the  path  gradually  rose  through  a  shady 
wood  until  we  reached  an  eminence  strewn  over  with  blocks 
of  gneiss;  then  descending,  still  through  woods,  we  came 
to  a  copious  brook  of  about  the  same  dimension  as  the 
Abbuloh.  This  was  the  Bombatta,  which  flowed  in  a  north- 
western direction  and  joined  the  Kooroo.  The  next  brook, 
the  Abeela,  moved  in  the  samie  direction,  and  was  composed 
of  a  connected  series  of  deep  basins.  Two  more  rivulets 
of  the  same  character  followed,  the  second  of  which,  named 
the  Ngoddoo,  flowed  past  a  flat  bare  elevation  of  gneiss  and 
joined  the  Kooroo  only  a  short  distance  to  the  west.  Amongst 
the  autumn  flora  of  this  region  the  Hydralia  was  very  con- 
spicuous, its  brilliant  sky-blue  blossoms  blending  with  the 
grass  so  as  to  form  a  charming  carpet  over  the  depressions 
of  the  brooks. 


THE  BAHE-EL-KOOROO.  353 

An  hour  after  crossing  the  Ngoddoo  we  arrived  at  the 
bank  of  the  Bahr-el-Kooroo,  as  this  important  affluent  of 
the  Bahr-el-Arab  is  called  by  the  Mobamniedan  settlers ;  the 
name  is  probably  borrowed  from  the  Baggara  Arabs,  as  amongst 
the  Golo  (whose  territory  it  divides  from  that  of  the  Kredy 
on  the  west)  it  is  sometimes  called  the  Mony,  and  sometimes 
the  Worry ;  by  the  Sehre  it  is  called  the  Wee.  At  the 
place  of  our  transit  it  was  flowing  towards  the  N.N.W.,  and 
the  current  was  rather  rapid.  The  entire  breadth  of  the 
bed  was  between  ninety  and  a  hundred  feet,  but  of  this  only 
sixty  feet  w-as  covered  with  water,  the  depth  of  which  nowhere 
exceeded  two  feet.  At  one  spot  the  river  flowed  over  blocks 
and  layers  of  gneiss  that  were  overgrown  with  mossy  Tris- 
tichae.  The  banks  stood  fifteen  feet  high,  and  although  there 
were  woods  on  either  side  that  grew  right  down  to  the  water, 
many  indications  remained  of  their  being  subject  to  a  periodi- 
cal inundation :  a  canoe  left  high  up  on  the  dry  ground  was 
an  evidence  how  full  of  water  the  river  must  be  during  the 
rainy  season. 

We  kept  continually  meeting  small  companies  of  slave 
traders,  •  mounted  on  oxen  or  on  donkeys  and  having  their 
living  merchandise  in  their  train. 

The  long  tracts  of  one  species  of  forest-tree  reminded  me 
very  much  of  the  masses  of  the  alder-like  Vatica  on  the 
Tondy.  Beyond  the  west  bank  of  the  river  the  path  led  up 
the  steep  side  of  a  valley,  and  the  level  of  the  soil  rapidly 
increased.  Then  we  came  to  a  series  of  ruts  like  deep 
ditches,  some  quite  dry  and  some  still  filled  with  running 
water.  We  counted  six  of  these  before  reaching  the  Beesh, 
or  Khor-el-Rennem,  which  is  an  affluent  of  the  Beery  and 
the  largest  of  the  three  tributaries  of  the  Bahr-el-Arab,  which 
I  had  the  opportunity  of  seeing. 

The  Khor-el-Rennem,  or  goats'  brook,  received  its  name 
from  the  circumstance  that  once,  during  the  period  of  the 
annual  rains,  a  whole  herd  of  goats  had  made  an  attempt  to 


364  THE  HEART  OF  AFRICA. 

cross  the  stream  and  had  all  been  drowned  in  the  rushing 
flood.  It  was  shut  in  by  trees  and  bushes  of  many  kinds, 
and  these  cast  a  gloomy  shade  over  the  chasm  which  was 
worn  by  the  waters ;  it  was  now  only  a  foot  deep  and  fifteen 
feet  wide. 

Here,  again,  the  land  on  the  western  shore  rose  suddenly 
like  a  wall,  a  peculiarity  in  the  topography  of  the  country 
that  testified  to  the  continual  increase  of  its  level  above  the 
sea. 

Two  easy  leagues  forward,  generally  over  cultivated  coun- 
try and  past  several  hamlets  belonging  to  the  Kredy  tribe, 
the  Nduggo,  and  I  reached  what  I  designed  should  be  my 
resting-place  for  awhile  at  Seebehr's  Seriba,  which  was  also 
the  Egyptian  camp.  The  distance  of  seventy  miles  from  the 
Pongo  had  been  accomplished  in  four  days.  By  this  time  I 
had  become  quite  accustomed  to  the  habit  of  counting  my 
steps.  I  had  become  my  own  "  perambulator,"  and  could 
not  help  thinking,  as  I  marched  along,  of  Xenophon  and  his 
parasangs  in  the  expedition  of  the  Greeks.  One  day  of  our 
ordinary  marching  would  accomplish  about  four  or  five 
parasangs. 

Seebehr's  Seriba  was  2282  feet  above  the  level  of  the  sea, 
464  feet  higher  than  Bizelly's  Seriba  on  the  Ghetty,  and  737 
feet  higher  than  Ghattas's  chief  settlement.  There  was  but 
little  observable  change  in  the  character  of  the  vegetation ; 
few  new  plants  appeared,  and  almost  the  only  difference  was 
that  the  forests  had  apparently  become  more  dense.  But  how- 
ever little  the  gradual  elevation  of  the  land  might  affect  the 
vegetation,  yet  the  hydrographical  condition  of  the  country 
very  plainly  attested  a  complete  alteration  in  the  nature  of 
the  soil.  Although  our  present  latitude  was  8°  N.,  the 
general  aspect  that  came  under  the  observation  of  a  traveller 
was  almost  identical  with  what  he  would  see  between  latitude 
6  and  latitude  5°  in  passing  southwards  from  Bongoland  to 
the  Niam-niam. 


SEEBEHK'S  SEEIBA.  355 

Immediately  after  crossing  the  Pongo  we  quitted  the  soft 
absorbent  soil,  and  entered  upon  a  region  so  prolific  in  springs 
that,  all  the  year  round,  every  rivulet,  brook,  and  trench, 
and  even  the  smallest  fissure  in  the  earth,  is  full  of  water,  and 
that  of  the  brightest  and  purest  quality.  Between  the  Pongo 
and  Seebehr's  Seriba  we  had  crossed  no  less  than  twenty 
brooks  and  two  rivers  of  considerable  magnitude.  Just  as 
had  been  the  case  in  the  Niam-niam  lands,  water  trickled 
from  every  crevice  and  found  an  outlet  on  every  slope,  whilst 
in  the  low-lying  country  of  the  Dyoor  and  Bongo,  on  the 
edge  of  the  red  swamp-ore,  where  chasms  and  watercourses 
are  quite  as  abundant,  no  springs  ever  break  forth  during 
the  winter  months,  and  the  half-dry  beds  are  supplied  by 
no  other  water  than  what  has  been  left  from  the  previous 
Khareef. 

This  circumstance  seems  in  a  certain  degree  to  illustrate 
the  conformation  of  the  south-western  side  of  the  Bahr-el- 
Ghazal  basin ;  for  the  general  direction  of  all  the  streams 
that  contribute  to  its  volume  would  be  at  right  angles  to  the 
lines  of  the  teri'aces  that  rise  one  above  the  other  at  various 
levels  above  the  sea. 

The  Seriba  was  enclosed  by  a  palisade  200  feet  square ; 
hundreds  of  farmsteads  and  groups  of  huts  were  scattered 
round,  extending  far  away  along  the  eastern  slope  of  a  deep 
depression  which  was  traversed  in  the  direction  of  the  north- 
west by  a  brook  that  was  fed  by  numerous  springs.  The 
whole  place,  in  all  its  leading  features,  had  the  aspect  of  a 
town  in  the  Soudan,  and  vividly  reminded  me  of  Matamma, 
the  great  market  town  in  Gallabat,  where  all  the  inland  trade 
with  Abyssinia  is  transacted.  To  establishments  of  this 
magnitude  the  natives  give  the  name  of  "  Dehm,"  *  which  is, 
in  fact,  an  equivalent  for  "  a  town."     The  heights  to  the  east 


*  The  Khartoomers  have  given  the  word  Uehm  an  Arabic  plural,  "  Dwehm  ;" 
and  by  this  tei  m  they  distinguish  the  great  .-lave  marts  oi  the  west. 


356  THE  HEART  OF  AFRICA. 

of  the  place  were  more  important  than  tliose  immediately 
bordering  on  the  depression,  and  in  the  N.N.E.  very  high 
ground  was  visible  in  the  distance.  Towards  the  west  the 
country  sloped  downwards  for  a  couple  of  leagues  to  the 
river  Beery,  which,  it  has  been  mentioned,  is  an  important 
tributary  of  the  Bahr-el-Arab. 

The  Egyptian  troops  were  encamped  at  the  southern 
extremity  of  the  settlement,  and  were  under  the  command 
of  the  Vokeel-el-urda,  Ahmed  Aga,  who  had  been  the  lieu- 
tenant of  the  late  Sandjak.  The  black  swindler,  Hellali,  was 
still  kept  in  confinement,  his  company  of  soldiers  being 
treated  as  prisoners  of  war  and  placed  under  the  surveillance 
of  the  other  troops  in  a  section  of  the  camp  allotted  to  the 
purpose.  Great  scarcity  of  provisions  prevailed,  for,  in  addi- 
tion to  the  troops,  the  population  had  been  augmented  by 
the  arrival  of  many  huiidreds  of  slave-dealers  from  Kordofan. 
Immediately  on  receiving  information  of  the  schemes  that 
were  being  plotted  against  his  copper-mines  by  the  Egyptian 
Government,  Hussein,  the  Sultan  of  Darfoor,  had  prohibited 
all  intercourse  between  his  own  frontiers  and  the  Seribas 
of  the  Khartoomers ;  consequently  the  traders  from  Aboo 
Harras,  in  Kordofan,  found  themselves  obliged  to  take  a 
longer  and  more  dangerous  route  across  the  steppes  of  the 
predatory  Baggara  ;  but,  in  spite  of  every  difficultyj,  the  pre- 
sence of  the  Government  troops  offered  such  an  attraction 
that  the  number  of  the  traders  was  just  doubled.  They  were 
enticed  by  the  hope  of  carrying  on  a  lucrative  business  with 
the  avaricious  Turkish  soldiers,  whose  influential  position 
gave  them  opportunities  that  were  specially  advantageous 
for  making  high  profits ;  but  besides  this,  the  attempt,  how- 
ever abortive,  of  the  Government  authorities  in  Khartoom  to 
suppress  the  slave-trade  along  the  Nile  had  had  the  efiect 
of  driving  up  the  traffic  in  the  upper  countries  to  such  a  . 
premium  that  the  dealers  were  spurred  on  to  fresh  energy. 
Since  the  last  rainy  season  upwards  of  2000  small  slave- 


EGYPTIAN  TROOPS.  357 

dealers  bad  arrived  at  the  Seriba,  and  others  were  still 
expected.*  All  these  people,  like  the  troops,  lived  upon 
Seebehr's  corn-stores,  and  thus  provisions  became  so  scarce 
that  they  could  hardly  be  purchased  for  their  own  weight  in 
copper,  which,  with  the  exception  of  slaves,  was  the  solitary 
medium  o-f  exchange. 

It  might  not  unnaturally  have  been  expected  that  the 
Egyptian  troops  would  have  taken  up  their  position  in  the 
richest  and  most  proliiic  of  the  corn-lands ;  but  instead  of 
this  they  had  quartered  themselves  on  the  extreme  limit 
of  the  Seribas  in  the  Bahr-el-Ghazal  district.  The  avowed 
reason  for  this  was  that  tliey  might  be  better  able  to  over- 
look the  approaches  to  the  copper-mines  of  Darfoor,  but  the 
real  motive  was  in  order  that  they  might  be  nearer  the 
fountain-head  of  the  slave-trade  and  in  direct  communica- 
tion with  the  northern  territories,  from  which  the  main  supply 
of  living  merchandise  was  obtained.  I  have  already  drawn 
attention  to  the  impossibility  of  raising  the  contributions  of 
corn  required  by  the  Egyptian  commander,  and  I  now 
became  a  personal  witness  of  the  unreasonableness  of  his 
demands ;  he  appeared  to  have  no  other  object  than  to 
exhaust  the  land  already  impoverished  by  the  slave-trade, 
and  in  true  Turkish  fashion  he  set  to  work  to  involve  all 
that  remained  in  utter  ruin. 

In  point  of  fact,  however,  it  must  be  owned  that  it  was  a 
matter  of  considerable  difiSculty  (after  the  bloody  conflict 
that  had  resulted  from  Hellali's  compulsory  levies)  for 
Ahmed  Aga  to  raise  the  necessary  supplies  for  the  coming 
Khareef;  but  he  made  his  requisitions  in  the  most  unfair 
way  ;  his  partiality  was  extreme,  for  while  he  exempted 
some  Seribas  from  any  contribution  at  all,  he  imposed  upon 
others  a  demand  for  a  double  supply.  My  friend  Mohammed 
was  one  of  the  oppressed.     He  had  been   called  upon  to 


*  The  entire  number  that  year  rose  to  2700. 
Vol.  XL— 25 


358  THE  HEART  OF  AFRICA. 

furnish  fifty  ardebs  of  corn,  a  quantity  corresponding  to  the 
burdens  of  150  to  170  bearers,  and  not  only  was  his  Seriba  at 
Sabby  at  a  distance  of  seventeen  days'  journey  from  this  spot, 
but  his  corn-magazines  were  still  another  four  days'  journey 
farther  on,  so  that  the  mere  maintenance  of  the  bearers  for 
tliree  weeks  would  take  thirty  ardebs  more.  Mohammed,  in 
truth,  had  not  sufficient  corn  of  his  own  to  meet  the  demand 
of  the  Divan,  and  would  be  reduced  to  the  necessity,  in  order 
to  make  up  what  was  deficient,  of  purchasing  at  famine  prices 
from  other  Seribas  which  already  were  well-nigh  exhausted. 

I  took  upon  myself  to  intercede  with  the  Aga,  but  to  no 
purpose  ;  he  was  utterly  inflexible,  and,  not  content  with 
insisting  upon  his  original  demand,  inflicted  a  heavy  fine  for 
the  delay  in  the  payment  of  the  tribute,  by  exacting  a  con- 
tribution of  100  ardebs  instead  of  fifty.  But  what  irritated 
me  more  than  anything  else  was  the  barefaced  iniquity 
with  which  he  backed  up  Shereefee  in  his  refusal  to  make 
any  compensation  to  Mohammed  for  the  outrage,  no  better 
than  a  liighway  robbery,  which  he  had  perpetrated  upon  him, 
whilst  at  the  same  time  he  pretended  to  upbraid  Mohammed 
for  what  he  called  his  implacability.  The  solution  of  the 
matter  was  very  easy.  Shereefee  had  bribed  Ahmed  Aga 
with  a  lavish  present  of  slaves,  and  that  was  a  gift  as 
acceptable  as  cash,  just  because  they  were  a  recognised 
medium  of  currency. 

Notwithstanding  the  crowd  of  human  beings  thus  aggre- 
gated together,  the  bill  of  health,  as  far  as  it  w^as  influenced 
by  the  climate,  was  perfectly  satisfactory..  There  were,  of 
course,  occasional  cases  of  hereditary  or.  insidious  disease; 
but  even  amongst  the  slaves,  closely  packed  as  they  were, 
the  mortality  was  inconsiderable,  and  the  human  bones  that 
lay  scattered  about  were  comparatively  fewer  than  what  I 
had  grown  accustomed  to  notice  in  other  places.  The  efiemi- 
nate  Turkish  soldiers,  however,  grumbled  excessively  at  their 
])Osition ;  they  besieged  me  with  petitions  that  I  would  not 


TURKS  IN  CENTRAL  AFRICA.  359 

only  represent  their  misery  to  the  Governor-General  in 
the  strongest  terms,  but  that  I  would  do  my  utmost  to 
convince  the  authorities  that  neither  profit  nor  glory  could 
be  gained  from  an  enterprise  which  was  exposing  their  lives 
to  so  much  peril.  "  Do  this,"  they  said,  "  and  you  will  be 
doing  us  one  of  the  greatest  favours  that  it  is  in  the  power 
of  mortal  man  to  confer,  and  the  blessing  of  Allah  he  with 
you ! " 

Certain  it  is  that  these  Turks,  fit  for  nothing  better  than 
to  lounge  about  on*  a  divan,  were  the  most  unsuitable  beings 
imaginable  ever  to  have  been  sent  on  an  expedition  into  the 
wilds  of  Central  Africa.  A  year  of  their  ordeal  had  scarcely 
passed,  and  already  their  complaints  were  piteous  enough  to 
melt  a  heart  of  stone ;  they  seemed  helpless  as  babes,  and  I 
verily  believe  that  had  it  not  been  for  the  Nubians  they 
would  have  been  cheated  and  trampled  on  and  reduced  to 
the  direst  necessities  in  this  land  of  solitude  and  starvation. 
They  were  all  indifferent  walkers ;  they  could  not  endure 
the  food  of  the  country  ;  they  sorely  missed  their  "schnaps ;" 
they  were  aggrieved  at  the  loss  of  their  wheat-flour  and  their 
rice,  and  did  not  understand  going  without  their  habitual 
luxuries.  It  was  indeed  a  kind  of  set-off  against  all  this 
that  they  could  be  as  indolent  as  they  pleased.  There  was 
nothing  to  do,  and  nothing  they  did ;  they  did  not  plant  out 
a  siijgle  plot  of  maize,  they  did  not  lay  out  a  kitchen-garden 
of  the  simplest  kind  ;  but,  loitering  about  from  morning  till 
night,  they  kept  up  their  unfailing  growls  of  discontent, 
dealing  out  their  invectives  against  the  "  wretched  "  land 
and  its  "  wretched  "  people.  No  wonder  they  complained  of 
ennui.  Divest  a  Turk  of  his  fine  clothes,  his  formal  etiquette, 
his  measured  speech,  and  his  little  bit  of  honour  which  may 
be  described  as  "  I'exterieur  de  la  vertu  et  I'elegance  des 
vices,"  and  little  remains  to  elevate  him  above  a  Nubian  of 
the  worst  class ;  nevertheless,  the  mutual  antipathy  that  ex- 
isted between  the  Turks  and  the  Nubians  was  very  marked. 


360  THE  HEART  OF  AFRICA. 

and  verified  the  proverb  that  "  Arabs'  blood  aud  Turks  blood 
will  never  boil  together." 

The  remarkably  large  contingent  of  Gellahbas  that 
chanced  to  be  within  the  place  gave  the  dirty  crowds  of  men, 
such  as  are  more  or  less  to  be  invariably  found  in  every 
Seriba,  a  more  motley  aspect  than  usual,  and  altogether  the 
Dehm  oiTered  a  deplorable  contrast  to  the  freshness  of  the 
wilderness  that  we  had  so  long  and  so  recently  been  travers- 
ing. The  hawkers  of  living  human  flesh  and  blood,  un- 
washed and  ragged,  squatted  in  the  op&n  places  keeping 
their  eye  upon  their  plunder,  eager  as  vultures  in  the  desert 
around  the  carcase  of  a  camel.  Their  harsh  voices  as  they 
shouted  out  their  blasphemous  prayers ;  the  drunken  iodo- 
lence  and  torpor  of  the  loafing  Turks;  the  idle,  vicious 
crowds  of  men  infested  with  loathsome  scabs  and  syphilitic 
sores;  the  reeking  filthy  exhalations  that  rose  from  every 
quarter — all  combined  to  make  the  place  supremely  disgust- 
ing. Turn  where  I  would,  it  was  ever  the  same ;  there  was 
the  recurrence  of  sights,  sounds,  and  smells  so  revolting 
that  they  could  not  do  otherwise  than  fill  the  senses  with 
the  most  sickening  abhorrence. 

Such  were  my  impressions  as  I  made  my  entry  into  the 
Dehm  Nduggo,  as  the  settlement  is  called  from  the  Kredy 
tribe  with  Avhich  the  neighbourhood  is  populated.  The  first 
consideration  I  had  to  make  for  myself  was  whether  I  would 
become  the  guest  of  the  Turks  or  of  the  Nubians ;  I  had  to 
choose  whether  I  would  sue  for  hospitaUty  at  the  hands  of 
Seebehr  or  of  the  Turkish  Aga.  After  due  deliberation  I 
made  up  my  mind  to  apply  to  Seebehr,  for  as  the  Turks  had 
taken  the  smaller  share  in  the  affair  with  Hellali,  I  concluded 
that  they  constituted  the  less  powerful  element,  and,  in 
truth,  they  were  themselves  dependent  upon  Seebehr's 
liberality.  But  what  perhaps  influenced  me  still  more  was 
that  my  firman  from  the  Government  had  been  lost  in  the 
lire,  and  that  consequently  I  was  lacking  in  credentials  lo 


SEEBEHR'S  COURT.  361 

make  any  formal  and  authoritative  demands  ;  and  1  did  not 
wish  to  be  at  the  mercy  of  the  commander.  As  it  was, 
Ahmed  Aga  did  not  even  fulfil  the  stipulations  that  had 
been  made  in  my  favour  by  the  Government  in  Khartoom, 
and  all  that  I  could  get  out  of  him  was  a  supply  of  good 
writing-paper  to  enable  me  to  go  on  with  my  sketching. 

Amongst  the  effects  of  Kurshook  Ali,  on  which  I  had  set 
my  hopes,  I  could  discover  nothing  that  would  be  of  the 
least  service  to  me;  his  successor  had  long  since,  in  true 
Ottoman  fashion,  disposed  of  everything  that  could  be  turned 
to  account,  a  proceeding  that  subsequently  involved  him  in 
a  lawsuit  with  the  son  of  the  deceased  Sandjak. 

Meanwhile  I  was  most  kindly  received  by  Seebehr,  and 
as  long  as  I  remained  in  the  Seriba  I  had  not  the  faintest 
cause  of  complaint.  He  was  himself  in  a  debilitated  state 
of  health ;  the  wound  that  he  had  received  in  the  late  fray 
had  proved  very  dangerous,  the  bullet  having  completely 
penetrated  the  ankle-bone.  The  only  means  employed  for 
healing  the  wound  was  repeated  syringing  with  pure  olive- 
oil,  a  remedy  which,  though  slow,  had  been  efficacious ;  for 
when  I  saw  him,  after  some  weeks  had  elapsed  since  the 
casualty,  the  injury  was  all  but  cured. 

Seebehr  *  had  surrounded  himself  with  a  court  that  was 
little  less  than  princely  in  its  details.  A  group  of  large 
well-built  square  huts,  enclosed  by  tall  hedges,  composed  the 
private  residence;  within  these  were  various  state  apart- 
ments, before  which  armed  sentries  kept  guard  by  day  and 
night.  Special  rooms,  provided  with  carpeted  divans,  were 
reserved  as  ante-chambers,  and  into  these  all  visitors  were 
conducted  by  richly-dressed  slaves,  who  served  them  with 
coffee,  sherbet,  and  tchibouks.  The  regal  aspect  of  these 
halls  of  state  was  increased  by  the  introduction  of  some  lions, 
secured,   as   may   be   supposed,  by  sufficiently  strong  and 

*  Seebehr's  name  at  full  length  was  Seebehr-Eahaina-Gyimme-AbeL 


362  THE  HEART  OF  AFRICA. 

massive  chains.  Behind  a  large  curtain  in  the  innermost 
hut  was  placed  the  invalid  couch  of  Seebehr.  Attendants 
were  close  at  hand  to  attend  to  his  wants,  and  a  company 
of  Fakis  sat  on  the  divan  outside  the  curtain  and  murmured 
their  never-ending  prayers.  In  spite  of  his  weakness  and  his 
suflfering  he  was  ever  receiving  a  stream  of  visitors,  who  had 
something  to  say  to  "the  Sheikh,"  as  he  was  commonly 
called.  I  often  paid  him  a  visit,  and,  to  my  surprise  at  first, 
was  accommodated  with  a  chair  by  the  side  of  his  bed.  He 
repeatedly  bewailed  the  helplessness  of  his  condition,  saying 
how  vexed  he  was  at  being  unable  personally  to  provide  for 
my  requirements,  adding  that  if  he  had  been  well,  he  should 
have  had  the  greatest  pleasure  in  escorting  me  over  his 
lands.  It  was  a  great  relief  to  my  mind  that  he  did  not 
apply  to  me  for  surgical  advice.  I.  was  glad  to  encourage 
him  by  my  approbation  of  the  remedy  he  was  using,  which,  if 
it  possessed  no  particular  virtue,  had  at  least  the  recom- 
mendation of  being  perfectly  harmless. 

A  draft  that  I  made  on  my  account  at  Khartoom  was  duly 
honoured,  and  I  obtained  a  hundredweight  of  copper  from 
Seebehr's  stores;  this  I  employed  without  delay  as  cash, 
and  purchased  soap,  coffee,  and  a  variety  of  small  articles 
from  the  hawking  liangers-on  of  the  slave-traders,  as  well  as 
a  large  supply  of  cartridge-paper  for  the  preservation  of  my 
botanical  specimens. 

The  greatest  service,  however,  that  Seebehr  afforded  me 
was  in  providing  me  with  boots  and  shoes  of  European  make ; 
no  acquisition  was  to  be  appreciated  higher  than  this ;  and  in 
finding  myself  fresh  and  well-shod  I  felt  myseK  renovated  to 
start  again  upon  my  wanderings  with  redoubled  vigour.  None 
but  those  who  have  been  in  my  condition  can  comprehend 
the  pleasure  with  which  I  hailed  the  sight  of  the  most  trivial 
and  ordinary  articles.  Once  again  I  was  in  possession  of  a 
comb,  some  pipe-bowls,  and  lucifers.  As  I  was  not  in  the 
least  inclined  to  forego  my  smoking  while  on  the  march,  I 


IBRAHIM  EFFENDI.  363 

had  been  obliged,  in  order  to  get  a  light  for  my  tobacco,  to 
make  one  of  my  people  carry  a  blazing  firebrand  throughout 
the  recent  journey. 

No  sooner  was  I  installed  in  the  huts  allotted  to  me  than 
I  received  a  succession  of  visitors ;  some  of  them  crossed  my 
threshold  from  mere  idle  curiosity,  whilst  others  came  either 
with  some  vague  hope  of  profit  or  from  some  innate  love  of 
intrigue.  I  was  honoured  by  a  call  from  the  great  Zelim, 
Ali  Aboo  Amoory's  chief  controller,  who  came  to  express  his 
hope  that  I  had  been  satisfied  with  my  reception  in  his 
Seriba,  which  I  had  visited  during  his  absence.  Then  I 
made  the  acquaintance  of  some  of  the  more  important  slave- 
traders,  who  had  long  been  settled  in  the  place  and  who 
came  burning  with  curiosity  to  know  the  real  object  of  my 
journey.  But  the  most  remarkable  of  all  my  visitors  was  a 
certain  Ibrahim  Effendi,  who  held  the  office  of  head  clerk 
and  accountant  in  the  Egyptian  camp.  His  life  had  been  one 
unbroken  series  of  criminal  proceedings,  and  he  had  been 
guilty  of  frauds  and  swindling  transactions  to  an  extent  that 
was  absolutely  incredible.  Originally  a  subordinate  in  one  of 
the  departments  of  the  Egyptian  Ministry  he  had,  during 
Said  Pasha's  Government,  forged  the  Viceregal  seal  and 
attached  it  to  a  document  professing  to  appoint  him  to  the 
command  of  a  regiment  that  was  to  be  formed  in  Upper 
Egypt,  and  to  prescribe  that  the  local  government  there 
should  defray  all  the  expenses  of  levying  and  equipping  the 
troops.  This  document  he  had  the  audacity  to  present  first 
with  his  own  hands  to  the  governor  of  the  province,  and 
then  forthwith  he  proceeded  to  present  himself  in  the  Upper 
Egyptian  town  as  the  colonel  of  the  new  regiment.  Only 
those  who  are  acquainted  with  the  disorder  and  despotism 
that  prevailed  in  every  branch  of  the  Administration  during 
the  lifetime  of  that  Viceroy  could  believe  that  such  a 
deception  would  be  practicable;  but  I  am  in  a  position 
positively  to  assert  that  the  fraudulent  artifice  did  really  fur 


364  THE  HEART  OF  AFRICA. 

a  while  succeed.  Two  months  afterwards,  the  troops  having 
meanwhile  been  embodied,  the  Viceroy  happened  to  make 
an  excursion  up  the  Nile,  and  seeing  a  great  many  soldiers 
on  its  banks,  inquired  the  number  of  their  regiment  and 
why  they  were  there.  His  astonishment  was  unbounded 
when  he  was  told  of  a  regiment  of  whose  existence  he  had 
never  previously  heard.  Ibrahim  was  summoned  at  once. 
Throwing  himself  at  the  Viceroy's  feet,  the  culprit  colonel 
confessed,  his  guilt  and  begged  for  mercy.  The  good-natured 
Said,  who  never  suffered  himself  to  lose  his  temper,  far  less 
to  go  into  a  rage,  merely  sentenced  him  to  a  few  years 
banishment  and  imprisonment  in  Khartoom.  As  soon  as 
Effendi  had  completed  his  term  of  punishment  and  re- 
gained his  liberty,  he  started  alresh  as  clerk  to  some  of 
the  Soudan  authorities ;  but  his  habits  of  fraud  and  em- 
bezzlement were  as  strong  as  ever,  and  he  was  caught  in 
the  act  of  decamping  with  the  cash-box,  and  was  this  time 
banished  to  Fashoda,  on  the  White  Nile,  as  being  the  safest 
place  for  dangerous  characters  of  his  stamp.  After  he  had 
been  here  for  several  years  our  friend  managed  to  excite 
the  compassion  of  Kurshook  Ali,  who  was  passing  through 
the  place,  and  was  induced  to  give  him  his  present  post 
of  head  clerk  to  his  division  of  the  Government  troops. 
This  appointment  brought  Effendi  to  the  district  of  the 
Gazelle. 

Well  versed  as  he  was  in  the  ways  of  the  world,  Effendi, 
by  his  wit  and  versatility,  seemed  to  have  the  power  of 
winning  every  heart.  His  position  here  in  the  Egyptian 
camp  offered  only  too  wide  a  scope  for  his  love  of  intrigue. 
He  had  played  an  important  part  in  the  affair  with  Hellali, 
having  doubtless  been  at  the  bottom  of  the  stroke  of  policy 
that  had  reconciled  Seebehr  to  the  Turkish  soldiers  by 
bringing  the  hated  Hellali  to  chains  and  to  the  yoke  of  the 
sheba.  Probably  he  was  again  bidding  for  the  command  of 
some  troops,  and  I  am  bound  to  confess  that  he  seemed  in  i\ 


DAR  FERTEET.  365 

fair  way  of  being  able  before  long  to  gratify  his  old  predi- 
lection for  military  organisation. 

The  uninhabited  wilderness  stretching  to  the  west  of  the 
Pongo,  a  district  long  known  to  the  inhabitants  of  Darfoor 
and  Kordofan  under  the  name  of  Dar  Ferteet,*  represents 
one  of  the  oldest  domains  of  the  slave-trade,  and  at  the 
present  day,  as  far  as  regards  its  aboriginal  population, 
presents  to  the  eye  of  a  traveller  the  aspect  of  what  may  be 
described  as  "  a  sold-out  land."  Only  within  the  last  fifteen 
years  have  the  Khartoom  trading-companies  penetrated  into 
the  district  watered  by  the  Gazelle,  but  long  before  that 
numbers  of  slave-dealers  had  already  formed  settlements 
in  Dar  Ferteet,  then  as  now  streaming  into  the  pountry 
from  Darfoor  and  Kordofan  accompanied  by  hundreds  of 
armed  men,  and  coming,  year  after  year,  in  the  winter 
months  so  as  to  accomplish  their  business  and  get  back  to 
their  homes  before  the  rainy  season  again  set  in.  Some  of 
them,  however,  did  not  return,  but  remained  permanently  in 
the  land,  and,  under  the  sanction  of  the  more  influential 
chieftains,  founded  large  establishments  (Dehms)  to  serve  as 
marts  or  depots  for  their  black  merchandise.  As  soon  as  the 
ivory-traders,  with  their  enormous  armed  bands,  made  their 
appearance  in  the  country,  the  Gellahbas  received  them 
with  open  arms ;  and  the  Nubians,  in  order  to  provide  for 
the  storing  of  their  ivory  and  ammunition,  forthwith  com- 
bined their  Seribas  with  the  Dehms  already  established,  so 
that  in  the  course  of  time  these  places  assumed  the  appear- 
ance of  the  market  towns  of  the  Soudan.  The  Gellahbas  by 
remaining  in  their  old.  quarters  reaped  a  twofold  advantage : 
in  the  first  place,  the  larg^  contingents  of  armed  men  that 


*  Ferteet  is  the  term  by  which  the  Foorians  and  Baggara  distinguish  th^ 
Kredy  tribes  as  a  nation  from  the  Niam-niam.  In  a  wider  Sense  the  term  is 
applied  to  all  the  heathen  nations  to  the  south  of  Darfoor.  In  the  Soudan  the 
guinea-worm  is  also  called  Ferteet,  probably  because  the  heathen  negroes  act 
cspeciiiUy  liable  to  its  attacks. 


366  THE  HEART  OF  AFRICA. 

were  now  introduced  into  the  country  relieved  them  from 
the  necessity  of  maintaining  troops  of  their  own;  and, 
secondly,  they  were  exonerated  from  the  heavy  imposts  that 
thev  had  been  compelled  to  pay  to  the  native  Kredy  chief- 
tains, as  these  w  ere  very  speedily  reduced  by  the  Nubians  to 
the  subordinate  position  of  mere  sheikhs  or  local  overseers  of 
the  natives.  In  the  course  of  my  tour  through  Dar  Ferteet 
1  became  acquainted  with  five  of  these  towns,  which  repre- 
sented so  many  centres  of  the  slave-trade  in  this  part  of  the 
country. 

But  although  the  various  Khartoom  companies  who  had 
thus  taken  up  their  quarters  in  the  Dehms  sent  out  expedi- 
tions every  year  to  the  remotest  of  the  Kredy  tribes  in  the 
west,  and  even  penetrated  beyond  them  to  the  Niara-niam 
in  the  south-west,  it  did  not  take  them  very  long  to  discover 
that  the  annual  produce  of  ivory  was  altogether  inadequate 
to  defray  the  expenses  of  equipping  and  maintaining  their 
armed  force.  Finding,  however,  that  the  region  offered 
every  facility  for  the  sale  of  slaves,  they  began  gradually  to 
introduce  this  unrighteous  traffic  into  their  commercial 
dealings,  until  at  length  it  became,  if  not  absolutely  the 
prime,  certainly  one  of  the  leading  objects  of  their  expedi- 
tions ;  thus  the  people  whom  the  professional  Gellahbas  had 
at  fii'st  hailed  as  friends  grew  up,  ere  long,  to  be  their  most 
formidable  rivals.  For  example,  Seebehr  Rahama  himself, 
who  had  to  maintain  a  fighting  force  of  a  thousand  men  on 
his  territories,  had,  as  the  result  of  his  ivory  expedition  in 
the  previous  year,  gained  no  more  than  300  loads  or  120  cwt.. 
a  quantity  which  realised  but  little  over  2300Z.  at  Khartoom ; 
but  at  the  same  time  he  sent  probably  as  many  as  1800 
slaves  direct  to  Kordofan,  there  to  be  disposed  ot  on  his  own 
account. 

Ethnographically  considered,  Dar  Ferteet  presented  a 
wondrous  medley.  Perhaps  nowhere  else,  in  an  area  so 
liniiterl,  could  there  be  found  such  a  conglomeration  of  the 


THE  KREDY.  367 

representatives  of  different  races  as  upon  the  cultivated 
tracts  in  the  environs  of  the  Dehras:  they  were  evidently 
the  miserable  remnants  of  an  unceasing  work  of  destruction. 
As  we  have  already  observed,  the  neighbours  of  the  Bongo 
upon  the  west  were  the  Golo  and  the  Sehre,  who  combine 
together  and  have  their  homes  in  common.  Beyond  them, 
still  farther  to  the  west,  are  the  Kredy.  These  Kredy  do 
not  seem  to  be  limited  to  any  particular  district,  but  like 
blades  of  any  one  particular  species  of  grass,  crop  up  every 
now  and  then,  quite  at  haphazard,  as  it  were,  amongst  the 
other  species  in  detached  groups.  The  tribes  which  pre- 
dominate, or  at  any  rate  those  which  I  had  the  most  frequent 
opportunities  of  observing,  were  the  Nduggo,  who  were  settled 
around  Seebehr's  Dehm ;  the  Bia,  who  were  settled  all  about 
Dehm  Gudyoo  ;  and  the  Yongbongo,  who  occupied  the  region 
between  the  two. 

Of  all  the  people  of  the  Bahr-el-Ghazal  district  with  whom 
I  made  acquaintance,  the  Kredy,  I  think,  were  the  ugliest ; 
and  whether  it  was  in  consequence  of  their  longer  period  of 
subjection,  or  thai  they  were  depressed  by  their  straitened 
circumstances,  I  cannot  say,  but  certainly  they  w-ere,  to  my 
mind,  very  inferior  in  intelligence  to  the  Golo,  the  Sehre, 
and  the  Bongo.  In  form  the  Kredy  are  thick  and  unwieldy, 
and  entirely  wanting  in  that  symmetry  of  limb  which  we 
admire  in  the  slim  figures  of  those  who  inhabit  the  swampy 
depressions  of  the  Gazelle ;  but  although  their  limbs  are 
strong  and  compact,  they  must  not  be  supposed  to  be  like 
the  muscular  and  well-developed  limbs  of  Europeans.  They 
are  like  the  true  Niam-niam  in  being:  below  an  averaire 
height,  and  resemble  them  more  particularly  in  the  broad 
brachy cephalic  form  of  their  skulls ;  there  is,  however,  a  very 
marked  difference  between  the  two  races  in  the  growth  ol 
the  hair  and  in  the  shape  of  the  eyes.  Their  lips  are  thicker 
and  more  protruding  and  tlieir  mouths  wider  than  those  of 
any  other  negroes  that  I  saw  throughout  the  whole  of  my 


368  THE  HEART  OE  AFEICA. 

travels.  Their  upper  incisor  teeth  were  either  filed  to  a  point 
or  cut  away,  so  as  to  leave  intervening  gaps  between  tooth 
and  tooth ;  in  the  lower  jaw  there  is  no  mutilation,  and  the 
teeth  being  left  intact  may  perhaps  account  for  their  language 
being  more  articulate  than  any  other  in  this  part  of  Africa, 
although,  at  the  same  time,  it  bears  but  the  slightest  resem- 
blance to  any  of  them.  Their  complexion  is  coppery-red,  the 
same  hue  that  is  to  be  noticed  among  the  fairer  individuals 
of  the  Bongo ;  but,  like  the  majority  of  the  Niam-niam,  they 
are  generally  coated  with  such  encrusted  layers  of  dirt  that 
they  appear  several  shades  darker  than  they  really  are  :  as  a 
rule  I  should  say  that  they  are  decidedly  fairer  than  either 
the  Bongo  or  the  Niam-niam. 

The  Kredy  are  bounded  on  the  north  by  the  Baggara-el- 
Homr ;  on  the  north-west,  three  and  a  half  days'  journey  from 
Dehm  Nduggo,  reside  the  tribe  of  the  Manga,  who  are  said 
to  be  quite  distinct  from  the  Kredy;  on  the  west,  five  or  six 
days'  journey  from  Dehm  Gudyoo,  on  the  Upper  Bahr-el- 
Arab,  are  the  abodes  of  the  Benda,  whose  land  has  long  been 
known  to  the  Foorians  under  the  name  of  Dar  Benda,  and  used 
to  be  the  limit  of  their  venturesome  slave-raids  ;  still  farther 
to  the  west  are  the  settlements  of  the  Aboo  Dinga,  who  are 
said  to  have  no  afiinity  either  with  Kredy  or  Niam-niam. 
The  most  important  of  the  western  Kredy  tribes  are  the 
xidya,  Bia,  and  March,  and  towards  the  south-west  their 
territory  is  approximate  to  the  frontier  wildernesses  of  Mofio, 
the  Niam-niam  king.  Finally,  in  the  south,  there  is  a 
mingled  population  of  Golo  and  Sehre,  the  Sehre  decidedly 
very  much  predominating  in  numbers. 

Before  I  had  learnt  the  true  state  of  things  with  respect  to 
the  caravan-roads  that  started  from  Dehm  Nduggo,  I  had 
indulged  the  hope  of  making  my  homeward  journey  by  the 
overland  route  through  Kordofan :  the  prospect  of  extending 
my  geographical  knowledge  by  traversing  unknown  lands 
was  very  attractive  and  almost  irresistible,  but  when  the  diflS- 


A  PROJECT  abandoned;  369 

culties  and  drawbacks  came  to  be  reckoned  up,  I  was  com- 
pelled, however  reluctantly,  to  relinquish  a  project  so  perilous 
as  marching  across  the  steppes  of  the  Baggara,  and  to  recon- 
cile myself  to  retrace  my  course  by  the  more  secure  and 
habitual  highway  of  the  Nile.  I  could  willingly  have  borne 
the  exposure  to  fatigue,  and  it  might  be  to  hunger ;  I  could 
have  risked  the  peril  of  being  attacked,  and  could  have  stood 
my  chance  of  procuring  the  necessary  provisions  and  means 
of  transport ;  but  the  extreme  uncertainty  as  to  the  length 
of  time  which  the  slave-dealers'  caravans  would  take  upon 
their  northward  return  was  of  itself  sufficient  to  deter  me 
from  my  scheme ;  I  ascertained  that,  whenever  it  suited 
their  interest,  they  would  linger  for  weeks  and  weeks  togethei 
at  various  places  on  their  way,  and  delays  such  as  this  were 
altogether  incor\sistent  with  my  present  purpose  and  con- 
venience. 

In  the  meantime  I  found  a  very  desirable  opportunity 
of  forwarding  ray  long-written  letters  to  Khartoom  :  the 
Turkish  commander  was  about  to  remit  his  own  despatches 
by  a  caravan,  and  he  undertook  to  enclose  my  correspondence 
with  his  own.  As  a  security  against  any  injury  that  might 
happen  to  the  mail-bag  from  the  caravan  being  attacked  by 
the  marauding  soldiers  of  the  Sultan  Hussein,  Ahmed  Aga 
had  provided  an  ordinary  Arab  travelling  chest  with  a 
double  bottom  as  a  hiding-place  lor  all  the  papers.  The  chest 
was  confided  to  a  trustworthy  Faki,  who  happily  reached  the 
Egyptian  frontier  without  molestation. 

Taking  seven  leagues  as  an  average  day's  march,  the 
journey  from  Dehm  Nduggo  to  Aboo  Harras  on  the  southern 
frontier  of  Kordofan  is  estimated  to  take  thirty  days.  This 
statement  was  confirmed  by  various  independent  testimonies, 
and  I  found  moreover  that  it  corresponded  with  the  distance 
of  the  two  places,  as  indicated  by  my  map,  a  distance  which, 
according  to  the  position  that  I  assigned  to  Dehm  Nduggo, 
would  be  a  trifle  under  380  miles.     The  route  first  of  all 


370  THE  HEART  0?  AFJIICA. 

leads  in  a  N.N.E.  direction  to  Seebehr's  most  northerly  Seribii, 
Serraggo,  a  distance  which  it  takes  three  days  to  accomplish. 
Another  day's  march  and  the  traveller  reaches  Dalgowna,  a 
depot  much  frequented  by  the  slave-dealers  and  situated  on 
the  isolated  mountain  of  the  same  name  as  itself,  from  which 
there  is  said  to  be  an  extensive  view  across  the  northern 
steppes.  The  Beery  flows  quite  close  to  this  Gehel 
Dalgowna,  on  its  way  to  join  the  Bahr-el-Arab  farther  to  the 
north-east.  Three  days'  journey  more  and  the  Bahr-el-Arab 
is  attained,  just  at  a  spot  were  it  marks  off  the  frontiers  of 
the  Baggara-el-Homr.  On  account  of  the  so-called  Bedouins 
(known  as  "  Arabs  "  in  the  common  parlance  of  the  Soudan) 
residing  upon  its  banks,  the  river  has  received,  from  the 
traders  of  Kordofan  and  Darfoor,  the  designations  both  of  the 
Bahr-el-Arab  and  the  Bahr-el-Homr :  that  these  two  appel- 
lations belong  to  different  rivers  is  quite  a  fallacy,  and  the 
mistake,  which  has  found  its  way  into  many  maps,  very 
probably  originated  in  travellers  sometimes  calling  the  river 
by  one  name  and  sometimes  by  the  other.  There  is  really 
but  the  one  river.  After  another  three  days'  march  Shekka 
is  reached,  the  great  rendezvous  in  the  territory  of  the 
Baggara-Eizegat.  It  may  thus  be  seen  that  the  journey 
from  Dehm  Nduggo  to  Shekka  may  be  accomplished  in  ten 
or  twelve  days,  according  to  the  length  of  the  day's 
marching. 

According  to  the  statements  that  I  gathered  and  have 
now  recorded,  Shekka,  I  should  suppose,  corresponds  with  a 
position  described  by  Escayrac  de  Lauture  in  his  valuable 
accounts  of  these  regions,  and  which  he  distinguishes  by  the 
name  of  Sook-Deleyba  (i.e.,  the  market  near  the  Deleb  palms). 
Shekka,  in  fact,  appears  to  be  an  important  market-place  and 
rendezvous  for  the  itinerant  slave-dealers,  as  well  as  for  the 
Baggara  Bedouins,  many  of  whom  Have  permanent  homes 
there ;  it  is  the  site  also  of  the  residence  of  Munzel,  the 
Sheikh  of  the  Kizegat.     But  it  is  most  notorious  of  all  as 


ROUTE  TO  DARFOOE.  371 

being  the  principal  resort  of  all  the  great  Kordofan  slave- 
traders  :  being  beyond  the  jurisdiction  of  Egypt  and  its 
arbitrary  officials,  who  are  in  the  habit  of  extorting  a  specific 
sum  per  head  for  hush-money  on  every  slave  that  is  conveyed 
into  the  country,  it  is  a  spot  that  enables  them  to  transact 
their  nefarious  business  free  from  the  burdensome  imposts,  and 
to  transmit  their  living  merchandise  in  whatever  direction 
may  suit  them,  all  over  the  provinces  of  the  Soudan. 

The  journey  from  Shekka  to  Aboo  Harras,  I  was  given  to 
understand,  would  require  eighteen  days,  and  even  with  very 
long  days'  marcliing  could  not  be  accomplished  in  less  than 
fifteen  days.  All  my  informants  agreed  most  positively  in 
asserting  that  there  were  no  streams  of  any  magnitude  to  be 
crossed,  and  that  even  in  the  height  of  the  rainy  season  there 
were  no  brooks  nor  swamps  to  offer  any  serious  obstacle  to 
travellers.  There  was,  however,  no  time  of  the  year,  not 
even  in  the  middle  of  winter,  when  the  Bahr-el-Arab  could' 
be  crossed  by  any  other  means  than  swimming,  or  by  rafts 
constructed  of  grass. 

The  caravan-roads  from  Dehm  Nduggo  to  Darfoor  were 
closed  at  the  time  of  my  visit.  Tliey  nearly  all  started  in  a 
N.N.W.  direction.  Almost  immediately  after  leaving  the 
Seriba,  the  traveller  would  have  to  cross  the  Beery,  and 
proceed  for  three  or  four  leagues  until  he  arrived  at  the 
subsidiary  Seriba  Deleyb ;  another  day's  march  to  the  north- 
west would  bring  him  to  one  of  the  minor  Seribas,  of  which 
the  controller's  name  was  Soliman ;  and  two  days  more 
would  find  him  at  a  Seriba  on  the  Gebel  Mangyat,  as  the 
natives  call  that  district.  The  notorious  copper-mines 
B-ofrat-el-Nahahs*  are  said  to  be  situated  six  days'  journey 


*  There  is  much  uncertainty  about  the  exact  geographical  position  of  these 
famous  mines.  TJie  accounts  difier  widely,  so  that  I  can  only  approximately 
determine  the  precise  situation.  According  to  Brown,  Hofrat  is  twenty-three 
and  a  half  days'  journey  from  Kobbeh,  the  capital  of  Darfoor,  whilst  according 
to  Barth  it  is  only  eight  good  days'  march  from  Teiidelti,  which  is  a  day's 


372  THE  HEAET  OF  AFRICA. 

to  the  south  of  this  region  of  the  Manga,  and  to  lie  on  the 
southern  frontier  of  Darfoor.  The  copper  is  brought  into  the 
market  either  in  the  shape  of  clumsily-formed  rings,  full  of 
angles,  varying  in  weight  from  five  pounds  to  fifty,  or  in  long 
oval  cakes  of  very  imperfect  casting.  The  price  that  I  had 
to  pay  for  the  hundred  rottoli  (about  80  lbs.)  that  I  obtained 
from  Seebehr  was  1500  piastres,  or  75  jMaria  Theresa  dollars, 
which  would  be  represented  by  about  £15  of  English  money. 

Seebehr  had  a  Seriba  on  the  frontiers  of  Darfoor  that  was 
in  constant  intercourse  with  this  important  place,  and 
through  his  interest  I  obtained  a  sample  of  the  ore  of  these 
far-famed  mines.  It  weighed  about  five  pounds.  One  half 
of  it  I  handed  to  the  Khedive  of  Egypt  at  an  audience  with 
which  he  honoured  me ;  the  other  half  I  deposited  in  the 
Mineralogical  Museum  at  Berlin.  The  specimen  consisted  of 
copper-pyrite  and  quartz,  with  an  earthy  touch  of  malachite, 
commonly  called  green  carbonite  of  copper,  but  containing  a 
very  small  quantity  of  the  real  metal. 

No  systematic  mining  seems  to  be  carried  on  in  the 
"Hofrat-el-Nahahs,"  and  the  man  wlio  brought  me  the  sample 
carefully  concealed  in  his  clothes,  informed  me  that  the  ore 
was  found  lying  like  loose  rubble  in  the  dry  bed  of  a  khor. 
It  may  be  presumed  that  by  boring  galleries,  or  even  by 
hewing  out  quarries,  a  large  supply  of  the  metal  might  be 
obtained  without  any  vast  expenditure  of  time  or  money,  for 
even  in  the  present  condition  of  things,  while  the  solid  rock 
still  remains  intact,  the  yield  of  copper  for  years  past  has 
been  very  considerable.  The  Foorian  copper  even  now  takes 
a  prominent  part  in  the  commerce  of  the  entire  Soudan  ;  it 
)s  conveyed  across  Wadai  to  Kanoin  Haussa,  and,  according 
to  Barth,  it  holds  its  own  in  the  market  even  against  that 
imported  from  Tripoli. 


journey  from  Kobbeh.  I  should  imagine  that  it  probably  lies  a  little  to  the 
west  of  the  position  that  I  have  assigned  it  in  my  map :  of  one  thing  I  am 
certain — it  lies  to  the  west  of  the  roads  to  Darfoor. 


CHAPTER    XXII. 

Underwood  of  Cycadeae.  Peculiar  mills  of  the  Kredy.  Wanderings  in  the 
wilderness.  Crossing  the  Beery.  Inhospitable  reception  at  Mangoor. 
Numerous  brooks.  Hujje  emporium  of  slave-trade.  Highest  point  of 
my  travels.  Western  limit.  Gallery-woods  near  Dehm  Gudyoo.  Scor- 
butic attack.  Dreams  and  their  fulfilment.  Courtesy  of  Yumma.  Rem- 
nants of  ancient  mountain  ridges.  Upper  course  of  the  Poiigo.  Infonna- 
tion  about  the  far  west.  Great  river  of  Dar  Aboo  Diiiga.  Earth's  inves- 
tigations. Primogeniture  of  the  Bahi-el-Arab.  First  giving  of  the 
weather.  Elephant-hunters  from  Darfoor.  The  Sehre.  Wild  game 
around  Dehm  Adlan.  Cultivated  plants  of  the  Sehre.  Magic  tuber. 
Deficiency  of  water.  A  night  without  a  roof.  IiTepressible  good  spirits 
of  the  Sehre.  Lower  level  of  the  land.  A  miniature  moimtain-range. 
Norway-rats.  Gigantic  fig-tree  in  Moody.  The  "  evil  eye."  Little  steppe- 
burning.     Eeturn  to  Khalil's  quarters. 

As  time  elapsed,  and  I  considered  the  life  that  I  was 
leading,  I  could  not  help  thinking  that  there  was  something 
in  the  lines  of  the  Russian  poet  that  was  not  altogether 
inappropriate  to  myself: — 

"  Two  years  had  passed;  the  gyp»ies  still 
Their  frank  and  lawless  lives  fulfil ;  * 

From  heath  to  heath  they  push,  nor  stay, 

But  find  new  quarters  every  day,  » 

All  heed  for  culture  cast  away : 
And  Altck  of  their  guild  is  free. 

Nor  liith  nor  kin  remain  his  joy, 

New  pastimes  every  hour  employ, 
For  gypsy,  heart  and  soul,  is  he ! "  * 

It  was  on  the  22nd  of  January  that  I  prepared  to  resume 
my  wanderings.     In  tlie  evening  I  took  my  leave  of  Sheikli 

*  Zwei  Jahre  schwanden,  immcr  wandern 
Noch  die  Zigeuuer  friedlich  fort 

Von  einer  Steppe  zu  der  andem  {Und 

Vol.  IL— 26 


374  THE  HEART  OF  AFRICA. 

Seebelir,  and   attended  by  six  bearers,  with  whicb  he  had 
provided  me,  I  departed  from  the  Seriba, 

My  first  destination  was  the  settlement  of  one  of  the 
companies  associated  with  Kurshook  Ali,  which  was  situated 
on  the  Beery,  about  twenty  miles  from  Dehm  Nduggo. 
The  route  for  the  most  part  was  in  a  south-westerly  direction, 
over  elevated  ground  that  was  channeled  by  no  less  than  ten 
running  streams  and  khor  beds,  and  along  country  that  was 
splendidly  adorned  with  goodly  forests.  The  defiles  extended 
from  the  south-east  to  the  north-west,  and  stretched  away 
towards  the  valley  of  the  Beery,  which  ran  parallel  to  our 
course  at  a  few  miles'  distance  to  the  right. 

The  first  ii-regularity  in  the  soil  which  crossed  our  way 
consisted  of  a  deep  river- course,  which  was  now  quite  dry  and 
shaded  over  by  thick  foliage ;  the  second  was  made  by  the 
stream  of  the  Uyeely,  which,  flowing  out  from  a  narrow 
streak  of  thicket  that  corresponded  very  much  in  its  vegeta- 
tion with  the  galleries  of  the  Niam-niam,  with  deliberate 
current  passed  onwards  to  the  west.  Midway  between  the 
Uyeely  and  the  next  stream,  called  the  Uyissobba  (the  native 
word  for  "  a  buffalo  "),  which  consisted  of  a  series  of  pools 
that  ranged  themselves  in  a  continuous  series  along  an 
open  swamp-steppe,  there  stood  a  grove  of  tall  trees.  I  was 
much  surprised  to  find  the  frequent  occurrence  of  the  same 
species  of  Cycadea  which  I  had  observed  in  the  Niam-niam 
lands,  but  which  here,  through  the  absence  of  any  under\\ood, 
made  a  majestic  upward  growth,  and  expanded  their  noble 
fans  at  the  summit  of  a  stately  stem. 


Und  finden  gastlich  jeden  Ort ; 

Der  jedeu  Bildungszwang  vei'aehtet, 

Aleko  ist  so  fiei  wie  sie. 

Niclit  die  Familic,  wie  sie  waivn, 

Nichts  weiss  cr  mchr  vou  fiiilieni  Jahren, 

Ganz  ziim  Zigeiiuer  ward  er  schon. 

{Gtrinan  translation  Jronc  Piischhin's  '  Tzigan'.') 


KEEDY  HUTS. 


J75 


The  Kredy  ^S'duggo  call  the  eiicephalartus  "  kotto,"  and 
my  attendants  acquainted  me  with  the  fact  that  they  could 
manufacture  a  sort  of  beer  out  of  the  central  portion  of  the 
stem,  which  was  marrowy  and  lull  of  meal.  Some  of  the 
specimens  that  I  saw  had  great  cylindrical  stems  two  feet 
high,  a  contrast  very  decided  to  those  that  I  had  previously 
seen,  which  were  all  quite  low  upon  the  ground.  The  male 
flowering  heads  were  often  as  many  as  eight  or  ten  upon  a 
single  stem.  In  tlie  shadowy  light  admitted  by  the  tall 
Humboldtise  that  towered  above,  their  stiff  crowns  had  all 
the  appearance  of  being  alien  to  the  scene  and  a  decoration 
imported  from  some  foreign  soil. 

After  crossing  a  rippling  brook  we  came  to  a  village 
belonging  to  the  Kredy  chief,  Ganyong;  on  Seebehr's  territory. 
The  fishing-nets,  forty  feet  long  and  eight  feet  broad,  with 
their  great  meshes  and  floating  rims  made  of  the  stalks  of 
the  borassus,  bore  ample  testimony,  as  they  hung  outside 


Kredy  hut. 

the  huts,  to  the  productiveness  of  the  Beery.  Nets  so  large 
as  these  I  had  never  seen  in  the  country,  except  among  the 
tribes  that  people  the  banks  of  the  Dyoor. 

The  style  of  building  amongst  the  Kredy  appeared  to  mo 
extremely  slovenly  and  inartistif^.  Most  of  the  huts  were 
entirely  Avanting  in  rsubstructure,  and  consisted  merely  of  a 


370 


THE  HEART  OF  AFRICA. 


coni(!ul  roof  of  grass  i-aised  upon  a  framework  of  hoops. 
They  recalled  to  my  mind  the  huts  of  the  Kaffirs.  Ganyong 
liad  some  corn-magazines  of  a  very  remarkable  construction. 
Tlicy  were  made  very  much  upon  the  principle  of  the 
>'gollotoh"  of  the  Bongo,  having  a  kind  of  basket  supported 
on  posts  and  covered  with  a  large  conical  lid ;  but  under- 
neath the  main  receptacle  and  between  the  posts  there  was  a 
space  left  large  enough  for  four  female  slaves  to  do  aU  the 
necessary  work  for  converting  the  corn  into  meal.  A  deep 
trench  was  cut,  and,  being  firmly  cemented  over  with  clay, 
formed  a  common  reservoir  into  which  the  corn  fell  after  it 
had  passed  from  the  murhagas  or  grindstones.     The  stones 


Interior  of  Kredy  hut. 

Avere  arranged  so  as  to  form  a  cross.  The  women  who  were 
employed  sang  merrily  as  they  worked,  and  in  the  course  of 
a  day  the  quantity  of  corn  they  ground  was  very  considerable. 
At  the  next  hollow,  which  appeared  to  have  been  a  marsh 
that  was  now  dry,  was  a  kind  of  defile  rather  thickly  sprinkled 
over  with  huts,  where  we  found  the  native  women  busily 
engaged  in  gathering  the  Lophira-nuts  that  they  call  "  kozo," 
and  use  for  making  oil.  The  succeeding  brook  was  named 
the'  Uyuttoo,  and  was  lined  on  either  side  by  avenues  of 
trees ;  it  was  not  much  more  than  a  trench,  but  it  was  full 
of  water.  Farther  on,  right  in  the  heart  of  the  wood,  we 
made  a  passage  over  a  khor,  and  having  for  a  wliile  mistaken 


THE  RIVER  BEERY.  377 

our  way,  we  made  a  halt  at  a  rivulet  that  was  but  eight  feet 
wide,  but  abundantly  supplied  with  running  water.  It  was 
already  quite  dusk,  and  we  were  obliged  to  abandon  all  hope 
of  getting  as  far  as  the  Seriba  that  day.  I  sent  my  bearers, 
therefore,  to  make  the  best  investigation  they  could  of  the 
surrounding  country,  and  to  find  out  some  settlement  where 
we  could  encamp  for  the  night,  as  it  appeared  to  be  quite 
impossible  for  us  to  bivouac  with  any  degree  of  comfort  in 
the  midst  of  the  still  vigorous  growth  of  grass.  During  the 
Khareef  these  thickets  must  be  absolutely  impenetrable. 

Just  in  time  a  village  belonging  to  Kurshook  Ali  was 
discovered,  and,  after  making  a  circuitous  route  to  the  south- 
east, we  fixed  upon  a  convenient  resting-place  for  the  night. 
Next  morning  we  proceeded  down  to  the  river  over  very 
irregular  ground,  up  hill  and  down  hill  and  repeatedly 
broken  by  deep  fissures.  The  dimensions  of  the  Beery  in 
this  district  were  anything  but  important :  it  flowed  towards 
the  west,  making  a  good  many  bends  and  curves,  and  after  a 
while  turning  short  off.  to  the  north.  At  this  date  it  extended 
over  about  two-thirds  of  the  width  of  its  channel,  the  depth 
of  the  stream  varying  from  one  to  two  feet,  and  the  water 
flowing  at  the  rate  of  about  one  hundred  feet  a  minute.  The 
Ijanks  were  about  eight  feet  high,  and  were  crowned  on  either 
hand  by  trees  that,  rising  some  fifty  feet,  threw  out  their 
boughs  and  overhung  the  stream  to  a  considerable  distance 
with  a  leafy  canopy.  I  found  a  place  in  the  most  shadowed 
portion  of  the  wood  where  the  river  had  formed  a  deep 
basin,  and  I  took  a  bath,  which  I  found  something  more 
than  refreshing,  and  with  the  temperature  at  68°  Fahr. 
I  was  obliged  to  take  a  good  run  to  get  warm  again, 

A  mile  to  the  south  of  the  river  there  was  an  extensive 
tract  of  land  covered  by  farmsteads,  merely  separated  from 
each  other  by  hedges,  and  inhabited  principally  by  some 
Gellahbas  who  had  settled  there  and  by  some  of  the  black 
soldiers.      Just    beyond   these,    in    a   deep   dopression,   the 


378  THE  HEAET  OF  AFETCA. 

rivulet  of  the  Eende  made  its  way  towards  the  north-west. 
Facing  the  settlement  and  towards  the  south,  the  valley 
sank  very  low,  whilst  towards  the  west  and  south-west,  the 
country  rose  considerably  in  prominent  wall-like  ridges. 

The  controller  of  the  place  was  named  Mangoor,  but  he 
was  unwell  and  out  of  temper,  and  consequently  had  no 
hospitality  to  show  me,  and  allowed  me  and  my  people  tct 
start  next  day  with  empty  stomachs  and  without  any  con- 
tribution of  supplies.  Nor  was  much  to  be  got  out  of  the 
native  local  overseer,  Gassigombo,  who  had  the  supervision  of 
such  of  the  Kredy  tribe  of  the  Jongbongo  who  had  settled 
there ;  the  country  was  so  impoverished  that  he  had  neither 
goats  nor  poultry  to  part  with.  An  Egyptian,  who  was  the 
representative  of  the  sick  controller,  was  really  the  person 
responsible  for  this  ungracious  reception,  which  was  by  far 
the  worst  of  all  that  I  ever  experienced  at  any  of  the  Khar- 
toomers'  settlements.  Between  Nubians  and  Egyptians 
there  goes  on  a  continual  jarring,  and  their  mutual  animosity 
is  extremely  bitter.  The  Nubians  call  the  genuine  Egyptians 
by  the  name  of  "  Wollad-er-Reef,"  the  designation  being 
given  to  them  in  distinction  to  the  other  residents  on  the 
Nile,  although  its  real  meaning  is  simply  a  Nile-dweller ; 
the  word  "  Reef,"  in  fact,  is  the  name  of  the  Nile  throughout 
its  course  in  Egypt. 

The  icy  stolidness  of  my  angry  servants  and  the  crabby 
resentment  of  the  Egyptian,  whom  they  had  somehow 
managed  to  offend,  gave  me  a  vast  fund  of  amusement  in 
spite  of  my  melancholy  plight.  On  the  following  morning  I 
found  myself  thoroughly  unwell,  and  so  weak  that  I  hardly 
knew  how  I  should  hold  out  during:  the  next  sta^e  of  our 
progress  to  the  next  Dehm.  I  had  now  double  cause  to 
regret  the  loss  of  all  my  stock  of  tea,  for  although  I  tried  to 
compensate  for  the  want  of  it  by  taking  an  extra  quantity  of 
coffee,  it  did  me  but  little  good,  and  was  comparatively 
useless  in  bracing  up  my  nervous  system.     I  made  it,  how- 


THEOUGH  WOODS  AND  OYER  BEOOKS.  379 

ever,  as  strong  as  I  could,  and  took  it  with  me  to  sustain  my 
flagging  energies  and  keep  up  my  elasticity  as  I  went  along. 
The  Dehm  Gudyoo,  to  which  I  was  directing  my  steps, 
was  about  twenty-two  miles  distant,  and  was  one  of  the  chief 
establishments  of  the  slave-traders  who  had  settled  in  the 
country.  There  were  no  less  than  ten  brooks  to  be  crossed, 
of  some  of  which  the  channels  vvere  partially  dried  up ;  every 
one  of  them  without  exception  flowed  from  west  to  east 
towards  the  Beery,"  which  lay  from  this  point  onwards 
upon  our  left  hand,  apparently  following  a  southerly  direc- 
tion. The  altitude  above  the  sea,  which  hitherto  upon  the 
route  from  Dehm  Nduggo  had  been  tolerably  uniform, 
began  to  increase  considerably.  The  region  was  less  thickly 
covered  with  trees,  but  light  brushwood  took  their  place, 
whilst  the  monotony  of  the  steppes  was  broken  by  dwindling 
watercourses.  These  seemed  to  flow  from  north  to  south, 
and  were  described  to  me  under  the  following  names :  the 
first  was  the  Eende,  and  had  a  tolerably  strong  current ;  the 
next  was  the  Buloo,  flowing  along  in  a  deep  rift  between 
walls  of  red  rock ;  then  came  the  Zembey,  a  mere  meadow- 
brook  ;  to  this  succeeded  the  Kungbai,  flowing  in  its  channel 
along  the  open  steppe ;  next  in  order  was  the  Eamadda,  a 
swamp-khor,  that  had  but  little  current,  on  the  banks  of 
which  a  number  of  little  springs  were  constantly  yielding 
their  fresh  supply. 

After  this,  the  way  began  to  ascend,  blocks  of  hornblend 
and  schist  occurring  every  now  and  then  to  vary  the  uni- 
formity of  the  general  configuration  of  the  soil.  As  we 
ajrain  descended  we  came  to  another  series  of  brooks.  The 
first  was  named  the  Biduleh,  and  ran  rapidly  along,  its 
banks  being  clearly  indicated  by  rows  of  Raphia-palms ;  the 
next  was  of  similar  character,  called  the  Gatwee,  its  borders 
again  lined  by  the  Raphia:  then  came  the  Gobo,  a  much 
smaller  stream  that  murmured  along  its  red  granite  channel ; 
and  then  the  Eadditch,  shut  in  by  a  kind  of  gallery  vegeta- 


380  THE  HEAKT  OF  AFRICA. 

tion.  The  last  of  the  series,  by  which  we  passed  the  night, 
was  a  stream  fifteen  feet  wide  with  a  rapid  current,  the 
water  of  which  was  up  to  our  knees ;  it  was  the  Gresse,  a 
feeder  of  the  Beery,  and  here  it  had  an  aspect  that  very 
much  resembled  the  Beery  as  we  observed  it  at  tlie  un- 
friendly Dehm.  It  was  now  full  30  feet  wide,  and  made  its 
way  amongst  blocks  and  over  flats  of  gneiss  between  lofty 
banks  that  slanted  down  abruptly  to  the  stream.  The 
declivity,  amidst  the  openings  of  the  thickets,  revealed  the 
i-ed  rock  of  the  swamp-ore  in  many  places,  whilst  down 
below,  the  flats  of  the  gneiss  were  everywhere  apparent. 

From  the  Gresse  we  had  still  eight  miles  to  march  along 
very  rising  ground  before  we  reached  Dehm  Gudyoo.  As 
well  as  being  one  of  the  oldest  halting-places  of  the  slave- 
dealers  of  Dar  Ferteet,  and  in  number  of  huts  quite  equal  to 
Dehm  Nduggo,  this  town  contained  a  Seriba  of  Agahd's 
company,  and  served  as  the  headquarters  of  a  division  of 
Khartoom  soldiers,  who  made  annual  expeditions  to  the 
territory  of  the  Niam-niam  king  Moflo,  in  the  west.  Gudyoo 
himself,  formerly  a  Kredy  chief  and  a  great  patron  of  the 
slave-dealers,  had  now  settled  down  to  the  east  on  the  banks 
of  the  Beery  as  an  ordinary  sheikh  of  Agahd's  possessions. 
Dehm  Gudyoo  formed  the  most  westerly  and,  with  the 
exception  of  Mount  Baginze,  the  highest  point  that  I  visited 
in  all  my  travels  in  Central  Africa.  The  altitude  of  the 
Dehm  was  about  2775  feet,  and  not  much  less  than  500  feet 
higher  than  Dehm  Nduggo.  From  various  indications  in 
the  character  of  the  soil  I  seemed  to  have  no  alternative 
than  to  conclude  that  these  elevations  continue  to  rise  still 
more  decidedly  beyond  Dehm  Gudyoo,  and  that  most 
probably  a  considerable  watershed  would  be  found  in  the 
region  in  that  direction. 

The  character  of  the  vegetation  reminded  me  in  more  than 
one  respect  of  the  flora  of  the  Niam-niam  lands.  Dehm 
Gudyoo  stretches  itself  out  on  the  northern  declivity  of  a 


SCORBUTIC  ATTACK.  381 

valley,  and  consists  of  huts  and  farmsteads,  whicb,  rising  one 
above  another  in  a  kind  of  amphitheatre,  gave  an  imposing 
aspect  to  the  scene.  Probably  the  number  of  huts  exceeded 
2000.  From  a  spring  close  to  the  lowest  tier  of  houses 
issued  a  considerable  brook,  named  the  Kobbokoio,  which  was 
shadowed  over  with  tall  trees  and  thick  bushwood  that  gave 
the  borders  very  much  the  appearance  of  the  Niam-niam 
galleries.  In  the  farther  environs  of  this  Dehm  there  were 
a  good  many  instances  of  plants  that  were  very  nearly  allied 
to  those  of  the  Niam-niam,  and  the  dualism  which  charac- 
terised the  vegetation  was  very  marked,  and  ever  and  again 
recalled  what  I  had  observed  before.  On  the  higher  parts  of 
the  hill-slopes  I  found  the  Albizzia  antlielmintica  in  con- 
siderable quantities,  the  bark  of  which  is  the  most  effectual 
remedy  that  the  Abyssinians  are  acquainted  with  for  the 
tapeworm. 

Although  I  had  cause  to  congratulate  myself  upon  the 
hospitable  reception  that  I  found  at  Agahd's  Seriba,  and 
appreciated  the  hospitality  that  was  extended  to  me,  my 
condition  altogether  was  so  wretched  that  I  might  almost  as 
well  have  been  left  in  the  wilderness.  A  kind  of  scorbutic 
affection,  that  had  for  some  little  time  been  lurking  in  my 
system,  probably  in  consequence  of  my  having  been  deprived 
for  so  many  months  of  proper  vegetable  diet,  now  broke  out 
with  some  violence,  my  gums  becoming  so  sore  and  the 
whole  inside  of  my  mouth  so  inflamed  that  I  could  not  take 
anything  but  water  without  experiencing  the  greatest  pain. 
The  restricted  supply  of  provisions  in  the  place  naturally 
aggravated  my  condition.  As  it  hapjoily  fell  out,  Faki 
Ismael,  the  superintendent  of  the  establishment,  made  me  a 
present  of  some  sweet  potatoes,  which  he  had  just  received 
from  Dar  Benda :  at  this  season  they  were  very  scarce,  but 
they  were  very  acceptable,  and  were  the  only  food  of  which 
I  could  venture  to  partake.  In  spite  of  my  ailments,  however, 
I  did  not  suffer  my  three  days'  residencs  in  Dehm  Gudyoo 


382  THE  HEART  OF  AFRICA. 

to  pass  away  without  employing  them  as  profitably  as  I 
could :  I  made  a  collection  of  words  in  the  Kredy  dialect, 
and  carefully  inspected  all  the  most  interesting  plants  in  the 
district. 

Large  quantities  of  the  Ashantee  pepper  are  found  on  the 
Kobbokoio,  and  just  at  this  season  the  stem  of  the  trees  were 
so  beautifully  decorated  with  its  red  clusters  that  they 
gleamed  from  amongst  the  thickets  almost  as  brightly  as 
a  flame  of  fire.  The  Kredy  might  in  this  place  alone,  with- 
out any  difficulty,  gather  hundredweights  of  this  pepper,  which 
amongst  them  bears  the  name  of  Dehre.  The  Nubians  who 
had  taken  up  their  quarters  here  had  not  the  least  idea  of 
the  useful  properties  of  the  plant,  and  it  had  never  occurred 
to  them  that  the  red  berries,  after  they  were  dried,  would 
become  black  pepper-corns.  My  disclosure  seemed  to  give 
them  the  greatest  delight,  and  without  delay  they  set  to 
work  to  gather  the  pepper,  which  they  designed  to  be  sent 
off  to  Khartoom,  a  novelty  in  the  way  of  their  commerce. 
In  the  bank- woods  I  found  some  muscat-nuts  which,  in  the 
previous  year,  I  had  not  found  on  the  Assika  until  the  month 
of  March.  The  straight  growth  of  its  stout  stem  never  failed 
to  attract  attention. 

At  Dehm  Gudyoo  I  learnt  a  great  many  details  about  the 
aspect  of  the  land  still  farther  west  that  had  been  traversed 
by  the  various  companies  of  Agahd,  Bizelly,  Idrees  Wod 
Defter,  and  Seebehr  Adlan.  When  we  took  our  departure  I 
found  that  our  road  had  a  decline.  In  order  to  reach  the 
Bongo  territory  again  I  proposed  to  proceed  in  a  kind  of  are 
towards  the  south-east  down  to  the  Dehm  Bekeer,  where  the 
extensive  establishments  of  the  Gellahbas,  stretching  away 
for  miles,  were  collected,  and  where  Eurshook  Ali  was  in 
possession  of  one  of  the  most  important  strongholds  which  he 
had  inherited  from  his  father-in-law.  In  a  straight  line  the 
distance  between  Dehm  Gudyoo  and  Dehm  Bekeer  would 
not  exceed  five-and-thirty' miles,  but  our  deviations  were  so 


A  SERIES  OF  STREAMS.  383 

frequent  and  so  long  that  it  took  us  two  days  of  exceedingly- 
hard  marching  to  reach  our  destination.  The  entire  district, 
a  thoroughly  unbroken  wilderness,  was  the  true  source-land 
of  the  Beery  and  the  Kooroo,  both  of  these  rivers  at  the 
points  where  we  crossed  them  being  in  the  incipient  condition 
of  mere  brooks;  nor  did  they  seem  to  surpass  the  other 
streamlets,  thirteen  in  number,  which  we  had  to  cross,  in  their 
supply  of  water. 

The  universal  direction  which  the  streams  took  was  from 
south  to  north.  Reckoning  them  in  their  order  after  leaving 
Dehm  Gudyoo,  the  first  was  the  Domwee,  quite  a  little 
channel  filled  with  a  flowing  current :  after  a  considerable 
rise  in  the  land,  we  came  to  tlie  Ghessy  Beery  (i.e.,  the  Little 
or  Upper  Beery),*  with  its  broad  water  almost  stagnant  and 
shadowed  over  by  an  extensive  gallery-wood ;  then  came  a 
dried-up  channel  at  the  bottom  of  a  broad  and  outspread 
valley,  of  whicl;  the  western  slopes  were  marked  by  crests  of 
hills  some  400  or  500  feet  in  height ;  to  this  succeeded  an 
uphill  march,  which  led  to  a  soil  so  elevated  that  it  opened 
an  ample  prospect  into  the  far  distant  east,  embracing  at 
least  the  chief  landmarks  for  some  eighty  miles  round ;  next 
succeeded  a  brook  called  the  Yagpak,  of  which  the  waters, 
still  deep,  were  hemmed  in  by  thick  shrubberies ;  next  came 
a  little  watercourse  with  languid  stream  ;  and  then  a  rivulet 
twenty  feet  wide,  full  of  water,  and  named  the  Gulanda, 
where  we  spent  the  night,  the  direction  of  which  was  indicated 
by  the  bushes  on  the  banks.  The  level  of  the  soil  was  here 
about  400  feet  lower  than  it  had  been  at  Dehm  Gudyoo. 
Farther  on,  close  following  upon  each  other,  came  two  dried- 
up  khors ;  after  which  the  land  once  more  began  to  rise  again 
in  alternate  flats  of  gneiss  and  lofty  eminences  of  swamp-ore, 
hills  named  Bakeffa  and  Yaffa  lifting  themselves  up  con- 
spicuously on  the  east ;  next  Ave  reached  a  small  dried-up 
course  that  intersected  a  valley  made  up  of  gneiss  flats, 
bounded  on  the  west  by  the  elevation  of  a  hill,  called  the 


384  THE  HEAET  OF  AFRICA. 

Fee-ee;  then,  at  about  equal  distances  one  from  another, 
vvere  crossed  four  kliors,  now  dry,  that  gave  an  undulated 
character  to  tlie  ground;  proceeding  onwards  we  came  to  the 
half-dry,  half-swampy  depression  known  as  the  Ohro;  and 
last  of  all  we  arrived  at  an  inconsiderable  water-channel  of 
which  the  stream  was  deep,  but  apparently  stationary,  and 
was  described  by  the  EJi'edy  as  being  the  upper  course  of  the 
Kooroo,  distinguished  here  by  the  name  of  the  Mony. 

The  district  over  which  we  thus  had  travelled  very  much 
resembled  the  northern  regions  of  the  Kredy  lands  in  its 
wooded  character  and  in  the  absence  of  meadow-lands  and 
steppes;  only  it  was  utterly  wanting  in  that  distinctive 
abundance  of  springs  which  is  so  marked  in  latitudes  below 
lat.  8°  N.  The  deficiency  of  water,  in  comparison  to  what  we 
had  before  experienced,  made  itself  very  obvious.  The  flora 
offered  some  few  novelties ;  in  particular  I  was  surprised  at 
the  cabbage-like  Euphorbia  {Tithymalus),  which,  though 
common  in  our  zone,  is  quite  a  rarity  in  Tropical  Africa. 

In  the  dried-up  watercourses  I  frequently  saw  one  of  the 
rodentia  which  had  hitherto  been  little  known  to  me :  this 
was  the  reed-rat,  called  by  the  Foorians  the  "  Far-el-boos." 
I  had  tlie  good  fortune  to  bring  down  three  of  them,  and, 
after  having  been  limited  for  three  days  to  a  diet  of  soaked 
sweet  potatoes,  I  very  much  appreciated  a  meal  from  their 
delicate  and  tender  flesh. 

Never  shall  I  forget  the  hospitable  reception  which  Yumma, 
Kurshook  Ali's  Yokeel,  showed  me  at  this  Seriba,  nor  the  cir- 
cumstances under  which  it  transpired.  My  gratitude  was  all 
the  more  keen  because  the  discourtesy  and  inhospitality  which 
I  had  experienced  from  Mangoor  were  still  fresh  upon  my 
memory.  I  was  really  worn-out  by  the  fatigue  of  marching, 
and  very  much  debilitated  by  my  compulsory  abstinence  in 
consequence  of  my  scorbutic  attack,  when  in  ihe  early 
evening  we  reached  the  Dehm.  We  wandered  about  for  a 
considerable  time  amoui>st  the  scattered  homesteads,  and  had 


A  TRAVELLER'S  DREAMS.  385 

some  difficulty  in  discovering  the  palings  of  the  Seriba. 
After  we  succeeded  in  getting  inside,  we  found  all  the  huts 
perfectly  quiet,  and  it  appeared  almost  as  if  invisible  hands 
had  prepared  the  coffee  which  was  handed  me  as  soon  as  I 
had  taken  my  seat  upon  tlie  "  angareb  "  in  the  reception-hall. 
The  ruler  of  the  Seriba  happened  that  evening  to  be  absent 
somewhere  in  the  environs,  and  it  was  not  known  for  certain 
whether  he  would  return  that  night.  Feeling  that  it  was 
quite  a  matter  of  speculation  what  kind  of  entertainment 
I  should  have  on  the  following  day,  I  threw  m};self  down 
without  taking  any  supper,  and  composed  myself  for  my 
night's  rest. 

Whoever  has  wandered  as  a  lonely  traveller  in  the  un- 
trodden solitudes  of  a  desert  likes  to  tell  his  dreams:  in  them 
the  true  situation  of  a  man  often  mirrors  itself;  for,  un- 
restrained by  any  control  of  reason,  images  arise  from  the 
obscurity  of  the  past,  so  that,  at  times,  it  seems  as  if  a  painful 
vividness  was  being  stamped  upon  recollections,  which,  as 
reproduced,  are  really  very  contradictory  to  the  actual  facts. 
It  happened  to  me  very  much  in  tliis  way  at  Dehm  Bekeer, 
only  I  had  the  compensation  that  the  visions  that  I  saw  Avere 
not  disproved,  but  confirmed,  by  my  experience. 

Weary  and  worn-out  as  I  was,  and  no  longer  master  of  my 
faculties,  I  seem  very  soon  to  have  fallen  asleep.  Memory, 
unshackled  from  the  guardianship  of  reality,  began  to  revel 
in  the  ideal  delights  of  a  material  world.  I  fancied  that  I 
was  in  a  spacious  tent  that  was  glittering  with  the  radiancy 
of  countless  lamps,  that  the  tables  were  groaning  under  the 
most  tempting  viands,  and  that  troops  of  servants  in  gorgeous 
livery  were  in  attendance  upon  the  guests,  to  whom  they 
brought  the  mellowest  and  rarest  of  wines.  And  then  it  was 
race-time  at  Cairo,  and  the  entertainment  was  sumptuous 
with  all  the  splendour  of  the  fairest  imagery  of  'The  Arabian 
Nights,'  the  host  no  less  than  the  Governor  of  Egypt  himself. 
And  then  I  seemed  all  at  once  to  wake,  and  was  quite  be- 


386  THE  HEAET  OF  AFRICA. 

wildei-ed  in  trying  to  decide  whether  I  was  in  the  smoke- 
clouds  that  envelop  the  interior  of  an  African  grass-hut  or 
whether  in  truth  I  was  reclining  under  the  shelter  of  a  royal 
marquee.  My  frame  of  mind  enhanced  the  force  of  my 
fancy :  but  soon  the  delusion  took  a  more  distinct  phase,  and 
I  seemed  to  divine  that  there  was  really  about  me  a  group  of 
well-dressed  servants,  and  that  whilst  some  were  bringing  in 
various  dishes  and  sparkling  goblets  which  they  placed  beside 
my  lowly  couch,  others  were  running  about  with  tapers  and 
lamps,  and  others  with  embroidered  napkins  under  their 
arms  were  conveying  the  choicest  dainties  in  lordly  dishes  or 
offering  lemonade  and  sherbet  from  the  brightest  crystal.  I 
rubbed  my  eyes.  I  took  a  draught  of  what  was  offered  me. 
I  surveyed  the  scene  deliberately,  and  came  to  the  surprised 
conviction  that  what  I  had  been  dreaming  was  a  reality ! 

Yumma,  the  controller  of  the  Seriba,  had  returned  home 
late  in  the  evening.  No  sooner  was  he  informed  of  my 
arrival  than  he  had  had  all  his  retinue  of  cooks  aroused 
from  their  night's  rest  to  give  me  an  entertainment  worthy 
of  his  rank.  He  was  more  than  half  a  Turk,  and  acquainted 
far  beyond  the  other  superintendents  of  the  Seribas  with  the 
elegancies  and  comforts  of  a  Khartoomer's  household.  Every- 
tin'ng  he  possessed  in  the  way  of  valuable  vases  or  tasteful 
table  ornaments  was  brought  out  and  exhibited  in  my  honour. 
He  set  before  me  bread  of  pure  white  flour,  maccaroni,  rice, 
chickens  served  with  tomatoes,  and  innumerable  other  deli- 
cacies which  I  could  hardly  have  supposed  had  ever  found 
their  way  to  this  distant  land.  It  was  quite  midnight  before 
the  preparations  for  the  impromptu  banquet  were  complete, 
and  then,  whether  I  wanted  or  not,  I  was  bound  to  partake. 
My  tortures  were  the  tortures  of  Tantalus  ;  however  eagerly 
r  might  covet  the  food,  the  inflammation  in  my  gums  put  an 
emphatic  veto  upon  my  enjoyment,  and  it  was  only  with  the 
acutest  suflering  that  I  could  get  a  morsel  of  meat  or  a  drop 
of  fluid  between  my  lips.     As  soon,  however,  as  I  was  some- 


A  LINE  OF  HILLS.  387 

what  better,  the  improved  diet  told  favourably  upon  my  con- 
stitution, and  after  a  few  days  I  was  ready  to  start  afresh  upon 
my  travels  with  renovated  energy  and  recruited  strength. 

The  environs  of  the  Dehm  are  inhabited  partly  by  the 
Golo  and  partly  by  the  Sehre.  Amongst  the  natives  the 
town  itself  is  known  by  the  name  of  Dehm  Dooroo,  called  so 
after  a  deceased  chieftain  of  the  Golo.  The  present  native 
overseer  of  the  Golo  population  is  called  Mashi  Doko.  To 
the  south  and  south-west  of  the  town,  the  ground  gradually 
rise>!,  and  in  the  main  might  be  called  hilly  in  all  directions, 
as  right  away  to  the  horizon  there  are  continued  series  of 
hill-crests  and  ridges.  Above  the  general  undulation  of  tlie 
land  these  rise  high  enough  to  form  conspicuous  landmarks, 
and  afford  the  wayfarer  considerable  assistance  in  the  direc- 
tion of  his  journey ;  many  of  them  present  an  appearance 
that  is  quite  analogous  to  that  of  the  hill-caps  which  have 
been  mentioned  as  characteristic  of  southern  Bongoland  ; 
generally  they  consist  of  bright  masses  of  gneiss.  The  shape 
of  these  hills,  is  defined  in  the  Arabic  of  the  Soudan  as 
"Gala;"  the  Bongo  call  it  "Kilebee."  They  are  quite 
isolated,  and  are  always  rounded  elevations  of  grey  gneiss 
projecting,  sometimes  like  flat  plateaux  and  sometimes  like 
raised  eminences,  from  the  swamp-ore  around,  and  they  give 
the  landscape  the  aspect  so  characteristic  of  Central  Africa. 
They  may  readily  be  supposed  to  be  associated  in  character 
with  those  gneiss  flats  which  are  scattered  all  over  the  land 
in  every  variety  of  shape  and  size,  and  any  one  must  involun- 
tarily become  subject  to  the  impression  that  they  indicate  a 
spot  where  in  bygone  ages  there  were  the  summits  of  mountains 
that  have  long  since  been  worn  down  by  the  tooth  of  time, 
and  that  these  elevations  were  the  ridges  that  liad  st-parated 
the  channels  of  the  very  rivers  that  I  had  discovered,  which 
by  various  agencies,  chemical  and  mechanical,  were  now  con- 
spiring to  carry  off  the  debris  of  the  mountain  mass  and 
convey  it  to  the  distant  ocean.     All  along  the  way  there 


388  THE  HEAKT  OF  AFRICA. 

were  the  most  striking  evidences  of  how,  in  the  operations  of 
nature,  it  had  been  brought  about  that  every  valley  should 
be  exalted  and  every  mountain  and  hill  made  low.  The 
problem  over  which  antagonists  may  wrangle  and  refuse  to 
be  reconciled  has  been  successfully  solved  by  Nature,  whose 
function  has  ever  been  to  establish  a  balance  between  oppo- 
sites  ever  since  the  days  of  her  own  early  youth,  before  as 
yet  a  living  creature  existed  to  give  animation  to  the  scenes  of 
earth.  As  instances  to  illustrate  the  certainty  of  these  earlier 
(;hains  of  mountains,  I  may  mention  the  following,  which  the 
reader  will  easily  trace  upon  the  map :  The  Taya,  between 
the  Beery  and  the  Kooroo ;  the  Bakeffa,  the  Kosanga,  and 
the  Ida,  between  the  Kooroo  and  the  Bongo ;  and  the  Kok- 
kuloo,  the  Yaffa,  and  the  Atyumen,  between  the  Bongo  and 
the  Wow. 

On  leaving  Dehm  Bekeer,  a  mile  south  from  the  Seriba, 
we  reached  a  small  stream  called  the  Ngudduroo,  and  on  the 
farther  side  of  it,  after  traversing  a  hilly  tract  for  about  two 
miles,  we  came  to  another  stream  which  in  winter  could  only 
boast  of  a  very  weak  current,  although  even  then  the  breadth 
of  its  bed  was  fifteen  feet,  thoroughly  covered  with  water. 
The  banks  were  about  eight  or  ten  feet  in  height,  and  stood 
out  dry  above  the  stream.  Yumma,  who  accompanied  me, 
declared  that  it  was  the  upper  course  of  the  river  of  Damoory 
and  Dembo,  consequently  that  it  was  the  Bongo,  and  he 
affirmed  that,  in  his  frequent  marches  along  its  banks,  he 
had  distinctly  followed  it  right  into  that  district.  Both  the 
Golo  and  the  Sehre  throughout  the  environs  called  it  the 
Djee,  and  as  I  proceeded  along  my  way  I  derived  fresh  con- 
firmation for  Yumma's  statement  about  the  river  from  the 
circumstance  that  it  is  also  called  the  Djee  by  those  Sehre 
who  reside  on  the  farther  side,  at  Dehm  Adlan.  All  along  my 
route  back,  moreover,  towards  the  east,  I  did  not  come  across 
any  river  large  or  small  which  could'  possibly  be  identified 
as  the  upper  portion  of  what  is  the  Bongo  at  Damoory. 


MOFIO  AND  SOLONGOH.  389 

Some  four  or  five  leagues  to  the  north-west  of  Dehm 
Uekeer  there  is  stationed  one  of  Knrshook  All's  subsidiary 
Seribas.  The  natives  of  the  district  are  Golo,  and  the  Seriba 
has  been  established  upon  the  banks  of  the  Hahoo,  a  little 
stream  that  subsequently  joins  the  Kooroo.  Two  leagues  to 
the  south-west  of  the  Dehm  rises  a  hill,  steep  in  every  aspect, 
it  is  designated  the  Kokkuloo,  and  commands  a  wide  view  of 
the  country  around.  I  found  a  number  of  intelligent  people 
in  this  locality  whose  information  about  the  neighbouring 
Niam-niam  was  of  considerable  service  to  me  in  ascertaining 
various  facts,  and  by  comparing  and  combining  their  separate 
accounts  I  was  able  to  gain  a  fairly  accurate  idea  of  the 
country.  The  particulars  that  I  gathered  were  for  the  most 
part  appertaining  to  the  territories  of  the  two  Niam-niam 
chieftains  Mofio  and  Solongoh.  Mofio's  residence  was  de- 
scribed as .  being  situated  to  the  W.N.W.  of  our  present 
position,  and  that,  in  consequence  of  the  number  of  streams 
that  had  to  be  crossed  and  the  deserts  that  had  to  be  tra- 
versed, it  could  not  be  reached  in  less  than  twelve  days,  even 
if  the  march  were  urged  on  with  all  possible  speed,  whilst 
at  an  ordinary  pace  it  would  take  fifteen  days  at  least ;  there 
was,  however,  a  way  from  Dehm  Nduggo  which  was  less 
circuitous,  and  did  not  offer  the  same  difficulties  in  furnish- 
ing the  bearers  with  supplies :  tliis  could  be  accomplished  in 
about  eight  days.  The  home  of  Solongoh,  who  was  a  son 
of  Bongohrongboh,  was  not  distant  more  than  a  five  days' 
march  to  the  S.S.E.,  and  only  separated  from  the  domain  of 
Kurshook  Ali  in  the  lands  of  the  Golo  and  Sehre  by  one 
of  the  desolate  frontier  wildernesses.  There  was  a  third 
independent  Niam-niam  chief,  whose  territory,  however,  was 
of  insignificant  extent.  He  was  called  indifferently  Yapaty 
or  Yaffaty,  and  was  the  son  of  Mofio's  brother  Zaboora :  he 
had  his  mbanga  three  days'  journey  to  the  south-west  of 
Dehm  Bekeer. 

At  the  period  of  my  visit  Yumma  was  on  terms  of  open 

Vol.  II.— 27 


390  THE  HEART  OF  AFRICA. 

enmity  with  Solongoh,  his  territory  being  constantly  threat- 
ened by  that  powerful  prince,  whose  sway  extended  as  far 
as  the  Bellandah,  who  are  bordering  upon  the  land  of  Aboo 
Shatter.  Just  before  this,  in  fact  only  a  few  days  previously 
to  my  arrival,  Solongoh  had  been  repulsed  in  an  attack 
which  he  had  made,  although  he  had  summoned  his  full 
force  and  had  advanced  within  a  couple  of  days'  march  of 
Dehm  Bekeer.  As  Yumma  foresaw  that  another  engage- 
ment was  imminent,  he  would  not  permit  me  to  remain  any 
longer  in  his  Seriba,  because  he  saw  he  could  not  be  respon- 
sible for  the  issue,  and  it  was  in  vain  that  I  begged  him  not 
to  have  any  apprehension  on  my  account.  But  the  audacity 
of  the  Niam-niam  was  so  gross  that  it  was  intolerable,  and 
must  be  suppressed  at  all  hazards.  To  such  a  pitch  had  this 
shameless  daring  grown  that  even  the  arms  of  the  soldiers  had 
been  stolen  by  people  sent  by  Solongoh  into  Dehm  Bekeer 
for  the  purpose.  Under  cover  of  night  they  had  contrived 
to  get  into  the  Seriba,  and  had  managed  to  purloin  several 
guns  whilst  the  unsuspecting  owners  were  sound  asleep. 

My  researches  in  Dehm  Grudyoo  enabled  me  to  gather 
certain  information  which  is  of  some  consequence  as  affecting 
the  proper  hydrographical  delineation  of  the  countries  through 
which  I  was  travelling.  Six  days'  journey  south-west  by  west 
from  the  spot  at  which  we  were  sojourning  stood  a  Seriba, 
which  was  Idrees  Wod  Defter's  principal  repository  of  arms 
and  ammunition ;  it  was  situated,  as  I  was  informed,  upon 
the  banks  of  a  river  that  flowed  to  the  north-east,  and  after- 
wards joined  another  river  that  was  so  much  larger  that  the 
passage  over  it  could  at  all  seasons  only  be  effected  in  boats. 
To  this  river  the  Khartoomers  give  the  name  of  Bahr  Aboo 
Dinga ;  it  is  said  to  be  about  two  and  a  half  days'  journey 
beyond  Dar  Benda,  where  Idrees  maintains  another  Seriba. 
It  is  a  river  that  is  likewise  well  known  to  the  company  of 
Seebehr  Bahama,  which  makes  a  yearly  visit  to  the  country 
that  is  inhabited  by  the  Aboo  Dinga,  a  distinct  negro  people, 


THE  BAHR  ABOO  DINGA.  391 

quite  different  alike  to  the  Kredy  and  to  the  Niam-niam. 
The  direction  of  the  stream  Aboo  Dinga  was  reported  to  be 
E.N.E.  or  due  east,  and  all  the  statements  concurred  in 
making  it  identical  with  the  Bahr-el-Arab,  which  intersects 
the  country  of  the  Baggara-el-Homr. 

No  one  seemed  able  to  decide  the  question  where  the  Bahr 
Aboo  Dinga  came  from.  I  suspect  its  source  is  somewhere 
amongst  the  mountains  of  Eunga,  to  the  south  of  Wadai,  a 
spot  of  which  various  travellers  have  given  such  reports  as 
they  have  been  able  to  gather.  Barth,*  in  the  itinerary 
which  he  gives  of  his  eastward  route  from  Massena  in 
Baghirmy  to  Eunga,  makes  an  entry  which  may  contribute, 
something  in  the  way  of  elucidating  the  question.  He  says 
that  he  came  "  on  the  forty-second  day  {i.e.  one  day's  journey 
to  the  south  of  the  residence  of  the  prince  of  Eunga)  to  Dar 
Sheela,t  a  mountainous  district  with  a  river  flowing  to  the 
east,  beyond  which  lies  Dar  Dinga."  No  one  is  more  con- 
scious than  I  am  myself  how  little  stress  is  to  be  laid  upon 
a  mere  resemblance  in  the  sound  of  names.  Hundreds  of 
times,  and  in  every  diversity  of  place,  I  have  found  that  any 
conjecture  based  upon  the  apparent  similarity  is  utterly 
worthless  ;  but  in  this  case  the  resemblance  was  not  a  chance 
coincidence,  for  the  assigned  bearings  and  distances  (as 
reckoned  from  the  two  starting-points  of  Barth  and  myself) 
so  thoroughly  correspond  as  to  suggest  the  sense  of  a 
mutual  agreement  between  the  scenes  that  we  explored ; 
it  seems  also  very  probable  that  Earth's  river  Kubanda  is 
identical  with  my  river  Welle. 

Various  reasons,  into  which  it  is  unnecessary  to  enter  with 
more  minuteness  here,  might  be  alleged  to  show  that  it  is  in 
the  highest  degree  probable  that  the  river  in  question  is 


*  Barth,  vol.  iii.,  p.  578. 

t  Some  geographers  fall  into  error  with  respect  to  this  place  by  making 
Dar  Sheela  identical  with  the  well-known  Dar  Sileh  or  Dar  Silah,  which  is  a 
different  negro  Mohammedan  country,  many  of  the  people  of  which  T  have  seen. 


392  THE  HP:ART  OF  AFRICA. 

likewise  identical  with  a  river  which  is  affirmed  by  the  two 
entirely  independent  witnesses,  Teiraa*  and  Fresnel,t  to  exist 
in  tin's  district,  and  to  which  the  name  of  Bahr-el-Ezuhm, 
or  Azzoum,  is  assigned. 

Although  these  statements  are  only  given  in  their  main 
and  essential  features,  and  not  in  detail,  they  will  sufiSce  to 
east  some  degree  of  clearness  upon  the  source  of  the  Bahr- 
el-Arab,  that  river  which  appears  hitherto  to  have  been  very 
much  underrated  in  all  the  maps  of  the  country.  The  evi- 
dence which  demonstrates  that  the  river  is  entitled  to  the 
rank  of  primogeniture  amongst  all  the  tributaries  of  the 
V Gazelle  system,  has  already  been  collected  in  a  previous 
page.  We  have  only  to  take  account  of  the  extraordinary 
length,  as  maybe  gathered  from  the  foregoing  data,  to  which 
the  Bahr-el-Arab  extends,  and  we  shall  be  at  once  bound  to 
concede  that  in  all  discussions  connected  with  that  endless 
question  of  the  sources  of  the  Nile,  the  Bahr-el-Arab  takes 
at  least  an  equal  rank  with  the  Bahr-el-Gebel. 

Leaving  the  Djee  at  some  little  distance  to  our  right,  we 
continued  our  return  journey  to  the  Wow  and  the  Dyoor, 
starting  in  a  N.N.E.  direction,  and  persevering  for  twenty- 
five  miles  until  we  reached  Dehm  Adlan,  just  as  it  had  been 
described  to  me  by  the  same  reliable  authorities  to  whom  I 
was  indebted  for  such  detailed  particulars  about  the  districts 
of  Mofio  and  Solongoh.  Nearly  throughout  the  march  the 
country  was  quite  destitute  of  inhabitants,  and  we  crossed 
eleven  little  streams  all  running  from  west  to  east  and  flow- 
ing into  the  Djee.  We  had  first  to  cross  a  half-dry  khor,  sur- 
rounded on  all  sides  by  open  steppes,  and  then  proceeded  to 
the  farms  of  the  Sehre  sheik,  Bereeah,  which  were  situated  just 


*  Vide  De  Cadalvene  et  de  Breuvery  L'Egypte,  vol.  ii.  p.  237,  where  the 
Orientalist  Konig  has  given  his  interpretation  ofu  map,  which  Teima-Walad-el- 
Siiltan-Messabani  (Governor  of  Kordofan,  subject  to  the  control  of  Darfoor^ 
had  himself  projected. 

t  Fresnel  pursued  his  researches  in  Djidda  in  the  years  1848  and  1849. 


THROUGH  WOODS  AND  OVER  BROOKS.  393 

beyond  a  considerable  brook,  of  which  the  water  was  nearly 
at  a  standstill,  and  which  bore  the  name  of  Langeh, 

Our  pathway  now  led  us  through  bushwoods  and  over 
soil  that  was  generally  rocky,  till  after  accomplishing  about 
two  leagues  we  came  in  sight  of  Bakeffa,  a  hill  of  which  I 
had  previously  taken  the  bearings ;  it  reared  itself  so  much 
above  the  flat  table-land  that  it  could  be  seen  from  afar.  All 
round  the  west,  far  as  the  horizon  embraced  the  view,  the 
whole  country  was  apparently  one  elevated  plateau.  For  a 
long  time  we  had  a  river  named  the  Gumende  on  our  left, 
and  at  intervals  passed  through  the  galleries  of  forest-wood 
that  enclosed  its  banks ;  after  a  while  we  had  to  cross  the 
stream  at  a  spot  w'here  it  was  thirty  feet  wide  and  ten  feet 
in  depth.  As  surveyed  from  this  place,  the  horizon  upon 
the  north-east  was  shut  out  by  the  rising  of  some  steepish 
ground.  The  next  brook  that  we  reached  w^as  named  the 
Nyusseta;  its  water  was  nearly  stationary,  and  beyond  it 
were  still  standing  the  dejected  ruins  of  a  previous  Seriba  of 
Bizelly's.  Having  traversed  a  rocky  tract  broken  by  repeated 
bushwoods,  we  next  arrived  at  the  large  brook  Gopwee,  of 
which  the  channel  was  deep,  but  the  waters  nearly  still,  its 
banks  being  shrouded  with  very  thick  foliage.  Then  we 
reached  the  Dibanga,  of  which  we  found  that  the  bed  was 
of  considerable  depth ;  but  at  this  season  it  was  divided  into 
a  number  of  separate  pools.  Farther  on  we  passed  a  gallery- 
brook,  in  which  the  water  had  no  movement,  and  finally  we 
came  to  a  much  larger  stream,  of  which  the  surface  of  the 
water  was  ten  feet  in  breadth,  the  height  of  the  woody 
banks  which  shut  in  the  channel  varying  from  twenty-five 
feet  in  some  places  to  forty  in  others.  Its  name  was  the 
Ndopah.  The  woods,  which  almost  completely  overshadowed 
it,  were  composed  in  a  large  measure  of  great  sterculiee, 
which  the  Niam-niam  call  kokkorukkoo,  and  to  which  I 
have  already  called  attention  as  being  so  conspicuous  in  the 
gallery-forests  of  the  south. 


394  THE  HEAKT  OF  AFEICA. 

Upon  the  banks  of  a  little  stream,  by  the  sides  of  which 
the  trees  were  arranged  as  it  were  in  avenues,  and  where  a 
kind  of  glen  was  formed  amongst  them,  we  came  to  an 
establishment  of  slave-dealers,  who,  in  company  with  some 
elephant-hunters  from  Darfoor,  had  taken  up  their  quarters 
at  the  place  which  the  Khartoomers  simply  designate  by  the 
name  of  Bet-el-Gellahba,  or  "  the  abode  of  the  slave-dealers." 
As  we  were  unable  to  reach  the  Dehm  to  which  our  steps 
were  bent,  we  were  compelled  to  take  up  our  quarters  here 
for  the  night. 

On  the  following  morning,  which  was  the  *5thof  February, 
I  was  very  much  surprised  at  the  singularly  clouded  aspect 
of  the  sky.  After  a  long  interval  the  night  had  been  warm, 
the  atmosphere  being  oppressively  close,  an  indication  that, 
just  as  might  be  anticipated  at  the  beginning  of  February, 
a  change  of  weather  was  impending,  and  there  was  about  to 
ensue  a  transition  from  the  coolness  of  winter  to  the  heat  of 
summer  without  any  interruption  in  the  dryness  of  the  air. 

Before  we  arrived  at  the  Dehm  of  Seebehr  Adlan,  who 
was  a  Seriba  owner  associated  with  Agahd's  company,  we 
had  to  journey  over  lands  that  were  under  vigorous  cultiva- 
tion and  to  pass  by  numerous  farmsteads  of  the  Sehre.  On 
our  way  it  was  necessary  to  cross  two  considerable  brooks 
that  flowed  in  the  hollow  of  some  deep  depressions,  and  were 
closely  shut  in  by  lofty  trees.  Beyond  the  second  of  these, 
which  was  called  Ngokkoo,  on  the  steep  side  of  a  valley 
slope,  lay  the  aforesaid  Seriba,  in  the  immediate  environs 
of  which  were  clustered  many  groups  of  Glellahbas'  farm- 
steads, numerous  enough  to  constitute  a  Dehm,  which,  how- 
ever, was  far  smaller  than  any  that  we  had  previously 
visited.  The  resident  dealers  in  slaves  were  partly  Foorians 
and  partly  Baggara,  and  had  an  interest  in  the  ivory  traffic 
as  well  as  in  their  living  merchandise.  They  conducted 
their  business  in  the  regular  Bedouin  fashion,  with  sword  and 
lance,  disposing  of  their  spoil  at  the  nearest  Seribas,  where 


THE  EIVEE  DJEE.  395 

their  activity  was  much  appreciated.  The  Baggaia,  who  come 
into  the  country  in  the  train  of  the  slave-dealers  (whether  for 
the  purpose  of  tending  the  oxen  which  are  wanted  as  beasts 
of  burden  or  of  superintending  the  transport  of  the  slaves), 
are  all  of  the  tribe  of  the  Kizegat,  the  Homr  being  the  most 
irreconcilable  enemies  of  all  the  Gellahbas,  no  matter  whether 
these  come  from  Kordofan  or  Darfoor,  or  whether  they  be 
natives  of  Khartoom  or  other  Nubians. 

At  the  distance  of  a  mile  from  the  Seriba,  towards  the 
east,  the  Djee  had  already  expanded  into  a  river  some  forty 
feet  broad  ;  its  bed  was  full  of  water,  which,  however,  did  not 
exceed  two  feet  in  depth  ;  it  flowed  deliberately  towards  the 
north,  between  lofty  walls  of  swamp-ore  and  over  moss-grown 
clumps  of  gneiss  that  half  obstructed  its  flow  along  its  bed. 
The  embankments  on  either  side  seemed  to  be  equally  in- 
clined to  the  base  of  the  valley,  which  they  overtopped  by 
an  altitude  of  nearly  600  feet ;  so  prolonged  was  the  depres- 
sion, spreading  outwards  for  several  miles,  that  the  aspect 
of  the  locality  was  quite  remarkable.  The  affluents  of  the 
river  joined  the  main-stream  by  gorges  in  the  soil,  which 
sank  perpendicularly  to  the  bottom ;  and  the  land  had  the 
singular  appearance  of  having  been  regularly  parcelled  out 
into  distinct  allotments. 

The  contented  little  community  of  the  Sehre  had  esta- 
blished itself  in  well-packed  quarters,  which  were  ranged  for 
some  distance  around  the  Seriba.  The  prospect  all  around 
was  very  diversified,  the  landscape  presenting  pleasing  alterna- 
tions of  light  and  shade,  the  dense  woods  being  relieved  by  the 
recurrence  of  the  culture-lands  and  homesteads  of  the  natives. 

In  general  appearance  the  Sehre  may  be  said  to  bear  a 
striking  resemblance  to  the  Niam-niam,  except  that  they 
are  not  tattooed.  Originally  they  were  a  tribe  of  slaves 
subject  to  the  Niam-niam  chieftains,  but  recently  they  have 
migrated  farther  north,  very  probably  encouraged  to  that 
movement  by  the  depopulation  of  the  land  in  consequence 


396  THE  HEART  OF  AFRICA. 

of  tlie  large  and  perpetual  capture  of  the  people  for  slaves. 
However,  many  of  the  Sehre  still  remain  subject  to  the 
dominion  of  the  Niam-niam  prince,  Solongoh.  The  pro- 
lonn-ed  intercourse  that  has  existed  between  the  two  peopl^^ 
has  done  a  great  deal  towards  obliterating  the  nationality 
and  peculiar  customs  of  the  Sehre  and  to  assimilate  them 
to  the  Niam-niam ;  but  to  a  large  extent  they  retain  their 
own  dialect,  which,  as  might  be  expected,  has  many  points 
of  resemblance  with  the  Zandey.  Many  of  the  Sehre  are 
quite  accustomed  to  the  Zandey  tongue  and  speak  it  fluently. 
The  long  hair  is  precisely  like  what  is  found  among  the 
Niam-niam,  and  the  mode  of  arranging  it  in  tufts  and  twists 
is  identical.     Their  complexion  is  a  dark  chocolate  colour. 

The  Sehre  are  a  robust  and  well-built  race,  and  in  this 
respect  they  more  resemble  the  Golo  and  the  Bongo.  Their 
ethnographical  independence,  however,  does  not  admit  of  a 
question.  Their  huts  attest  the  interest  which  their  owners 
take  in  them,  and  the  amount  of  care  that  is  bestowed  upon 
the  management  of  their  households  is  larger  than  what  is 
anywhere  to  be  observed  amongst  the  Golo,  not  to  mention 
those  of  the  poor  degenerate  Kredy.  The  peculiar  huts 
appropriated  to  boys,  which  I  have  mentioned  as  being 
adopted  by  the  Niam-niam  and  called  "bamogee,"  are 
found  here,  and  are  always  built  in  a  style  that  is  most 
symmetrical.  But  their  most  remarkable  structures  are 
their  corn-bins,  which  are  of  a  shape  that  I  never  saw  else- 
where. They  are  made  in  the  form  of  a  drinking  goblet, 
and  are  nearly  always  artistically  decorated  with  mouldings 
and  with  a  series  of  rings  almost  as  perfect  as  though  they 
had  been  produced  with  the  aid  of  a  lathe.  They  are  always 
built  on  a  pedestal,  which  must  be  climbed  in  order  to  push 
aside  the  projecting  lid. 

Among  the  Sehre  I  never  saw  either  goats  or  dogs,  and, 
as  far  as  I  could  judge,  their  residences  had  no  other  live- 
stock about  them  but  a  few  cocks  and  hens. 


THE  SEHEE.  397 

There  is  nothing  very  remarkable  about  the  arms  of  the 
Sehre ;  their  lances  resemble  those  of  the  Bongo,  and  are 
very  rare  and  quaint-looking  weapon?.  The  bows  and 
arrows  are  considerably  smaller  than  those  of  the  Bongo, 
the  arrows  in  particular  being  of  that  short  and  stumpy  make 
that  I  had  noticed  amongst  the  Bellanda. 

The  women's  attire  consists  of  bunches  of  grass  or  leaves, 
fastened  to  their  girdle  before  and  behind,  and  very  like 
what  is  worn  by  the  Bongo ;  it  is  also  generally  adopted 
by  the  women  of  the  Golo  and  Kredy.  There  is  the  same 
partiality  for  inserting  bits  of  straw  in  the  sides  of  the 
nostrils  that  is  so  common  amongst  the  Bongo  women,  but 
the  example  here  is  to  a  certain  extent  followed  even  by  the 
men.  Many  of  thewomen  have  the  circular  plate  let  into 
their  upper  lip  like  the  Mittoo  women.  At  the  Dehm  Adian 
I  observed  several  women  who  had  an  appendage  hanging 
from  the  lower  lip  in  the  shape  of  a  piece  of  lead  several 
inches  long.  The  teeth,  both  of  men  and  women,  are  left 
unmutilated,  the  only  disfigurement  being  that  an  artificial 
separation  is  made  between  the  two  central  incisors.  Ac- 
cording to  the  ordinary  fashion  of  Central  Africa,  infants  at 
the  breast  are  carried  in  a  girth,  similar  to  a  saddle-girth, 
worn  over  the  shoulders  just  in  the  same  way  as  amongst 
the  Monbuttoo  women. 

Hunting  in  the  neighbouring  wildernesses,  which  cannot 
extend  much  less  than  twenty  miles  in  every  direction,  and 
which  appear  to  be  entirely  void  of  inhabitants,  must  be  a 
very  productive  pursuit.  In  all  my  travels  I  never  came 
across  such  numerous  and  abundant  hunting  trophies  as  here 
amongst  the  homesteads  of  the  Sehre  ;  they  were  contrived 
out  of  branches  of  trees  resting  one  against  another  and  self- 
supported  like  the  guns  of  soldiers  in  camp,  and  were  crowded 
with  the  skulls  and  horns  of  animals  that  the  natives  had 
secured.  Hundreds  of  buffalo-horns,  including  a  surprising 
number  of  those  of  the  females,  were  attached  to  the  struc- 


398  THE  HEAET  OF  AFRICA 

tures  which  stood  in  front  of  well-nigh  every  hut,  and  were  as 
numerous  as  though  hunter  vied  with  hunter  in  his  separate 
display.  Every  variety  of  horn  was  represented:  inter- 
mingled with  the  buffalo-horns  were  those  of  the  eland- 
antelope,  the  water-bock,  the  hartebeest,  and  the  bastard- 
gem  shock,  whilst  skulls  of  wart-hogs,  and  occasionally  even 
skulls  of  lions,  were  not  wanting  to  help  adorn  the  trophy. 

The  proprietor  of  the  Seriba  happened  to  be  absent  on 
an  excursion  to  the  western  districts  of  the  Niam-niam,  but 
his  Yokeel  did  his  utmost  to  provide  me  with  a  hospitable 
reception;  and  taking  into  account  the  impoverishment  of 
the  land  and  the  general  deficiency  of  provisions  that  pre- 
vailed, I  am  bound  to  award  him  my  best  thanks  for  his 
courtesy  and  attention. 

Beyond  the  Kooroo,  and  just  half-way  between  Dehm 
Adlan  and  Dehm  Gudyoo,  there  stands  a  hill  of  considerable 
altitude,  named  Taya.  The  whole  distance  required  two  days' 
hard  marching  to  get  over,  the  road  being  straight  through 
uninterrupted  wilderness  until  it  reached  the  farmsteads  of 
the  Kredy  sheikh,  Gudyoo,  on  the  banks  of  the  Beery. 

Shortly  after  midnight  on  the  8th  of  February  there 
came  on  such  a  violent  storm  that  I  was  aroused  from  my 
sleep,  although  I  was  sheltered  by  one  of  the  best  protected 
of  the  huts.  A  complete  change  of  wind  ensued,  and  for 
the  first  time  this  season  the  south-west  wind  set  in  afresh 
and  for  some  time  maintained  its  position  for  the  greater 
part  of  the  day.  The  nights  in  consequence  became  so 
much  warmer  that  any  covering  for  the  bed  could  easily 
be  dispensed  with.  We  tarried  here  three  days,  and  then 
started  for  another  three  days'  march  on  our  return  to 
Bongoland,  over  a  country  all  but  destitute  of  water,  for 
the  Pongo  may  be  described  as  a  river  that  separates  a 
district  full  of  springs  from  one  that  is  just  as  barren  of 
them,  although  the  change  in  the  level  of  the  country  comes 
on  so  gradually  that  it  can  hardly  be  said  to  be  observable. 


KAERA,  THE  MAGIC  TUBER.  399 

In  the  course  of  our  journey  we  had  to  cross  the  three  run- 
ning brooks  known  as  the  Ngokurah,  the  Simmere,  and 
Ngonguli,  and  to  pass  by  several  villages  of  the  Sehre,  of 
which  the  sheikhs  were  respectively  called  Kombo,  Villeke, 
Badja,  and  Barraga.  The  last  huts  and  the  last  water  were 
left  behind  about  four  miles  after  quitting  the  Pongo,  and 
henceforth  water  for  drinking  had  to  be  sought  for  with  con- 
siderable trouble,  as  all  the  pools  and  marshes  that  supplied 
any  were  only  to  be  found  scattered  at  wide  intervals  one 
from  another. 

We  spent  our  first  night  close  to  the  farms  of  Barraga, 
a  spot  which  seemed  especially  remarkable  for  the  clusters 
of  trophies,  all  covered  with  the  skulls  of  baboons.  Every- 
where there  seemed  to  be  an  extensive  cultivation  of  cassava, 
a  product  of  the  soil  that  seems  hardly  known  at  all  to  the 
Bongo.  Many  things  that  I  saw  in  their  cultivation  bore 
evidence  to  their  comparatively  recent  migration  from  the 
country  of  the  Niam-niam.  Sweet-potatoes  were  as  common 
as  cassava,  and  in  addition  to  this  were  the  ricinus,  the 
edible  solanum  of  the  Niam-niam,  here  called  "  dyooyo," 
and  the  horse-bean  (Canavalia),  which  here  bears  the  name 
of  "  nzerahno."     I  also  found  a  very  peculiar  creeper,  with  a 


'Karra,"  the  magic  tuber. 


double  horny  or  finger-shaped  tuber  attached  to  the  axils  of 
the  leaves,  like  the  edible  helmia,  to  which  genus  of  plants 
it  doubtless  belongs.     It  is  transplanted  by  the  natives  from 


400  THE  HEART  OF  AFRICA. 

the  woods  and  trained  in  the  neighbourhood  of  the  huts, 
and  is  known  under  the  name  of  "  karra."  I  had  already 
noticed  this  plant  in  the  Kredy  villages  on  the  Beery, 
where  I  was  told  that  the  tubers  were  very  much  used  as  a 
purgative  medicine  ;  but  amongst  the  Niam-niam,  who  like- 
wise occasionally  cultivate  it,  I  heard  a  different  account. 
There  it  was  said  that  the  tubers  are  looked  upon  as  a  sort 
of  charm,  and  it  is  believed  that  a  good  show  of  them  upon 
the  leaves  is  an  infallible  prediction  of  a  prolific  hunting 
season.  It  was,  moreover,  affirmed  that  if  a  huntsman  wants 
to  render  his  bow  unerring  in  its  capabilities,  he  has  only  to 
hold  it  in  his  hand  while  he  "  slaughters  "  one  of  the  tubers 
over  it,  that  is,  takes  a  knife  and  cuts  off  the  end  and  chops 
it  in  pieces. 

The  first  tract  that  we  passed  in  our  still  eastward  return 
route  was  a  uniformly  thick  wood,  without  any  declivity  at 
all  in  the  ground,  or  anything  to  indicate  that  it  was  ever 
broken  by  a  watercourse  or  standing  pool  of  rain.  About 
midday  we  made  a  halt  at  a  marshy  brook  named  Kanda, 
now  dry,  and  set  to  work  to  explore  the  neighbourhood  in 
the  hopes  of  discovering  some  water^  for,  after  a  march  of 
eleven  miles  in  the  heat,  we  began  to  be  suffering  from 
thirst.  After  a  long  search  my  people  succeeded  in  meeting 
with  a  puddly  slough,  from  which  the  dirty  superficies  had 
to  be  carefully  removed  in  order  to  get  at  a  little  clear 
water.  It  was  a  disgusting  .swamp,  the  haunt  of  buffaloes 
and  wild  boars,  full  of  excrements  and  reeking  with  filth,  a 
compound  of  mould  and  ammonia.  It  was  not  until  it  had 
been  strained  through  handkerchiefs  and  well-boiled  that 
the  water  was  purified  of  its  odious  smell.  Only  three  miles 
farther  on  we  had  the  good  luck  to  find  the  watercourse  of 
the  Telle,  overshadowed  by  thick  foliage  and  running  in  a 
tolerably  bright  stream :  a  sufficient  inducement  to  make 
the  spot  our  resting-place  for  the  night. 

On  the  third  day  of  our  march  we  again  passed  several 


NO  ROOF  OVER-HEAD.  401 

dry  khors  that  had  little  pools  of  water  in  them,  but  very 
inadequate  to  our  needs.  In  one  of  these  there  was  lurking 
a  herd  of  hartebeests,  which  by  the  greyish  fawn-colour  of 
their  winter  coats  had  quite  an  exceptional  appearance. 
Hundreds  of  maraboo-storks  were  congregated  around  a 
marshy  pond,  where  they  were  fishing  for  snails  and  worms. 

At  dinner  we  were  again  obliged  to  put  up  with  the  most 
abominable  and  revolting  of  water ;  our  stock  of  provisions 
was  miserably  short,  and  although  I  had  knocked  over  a 
few  guinea-fowl,  I  had  neither  water  in  which  to  boil  them, 
nor  grease  in  which  to  fry  them.  In  the  afternoon  we  were 
startled  by  a  storm,  which,  coming  up  from  the  north-east, 
rolled  away  towards  the  south.  We  endeavoured  to  get 
shelter  in  the  wood  beneath  the  thick  foliage  of  the  numerous 
great  Lophira- trees,  but  it  was  all  in  vain;  for,  after  having 
waited  till  daylight  was  waning,  we  were  obliged  to  pro- 
ceed in  the  darkness,  and,  thoroughly  drenched  to  the  skin, 
marched  for  a  couple  of  hours  till  we  came  to  the  banks  of  a 
rivulet,  where  we  were  again  overtaken  by  the  rain. 

A  tedious,  trying  night,  spent  without  a  roof  over  my 
head,  seemed  to  fill  up  the  cup  of  bitterness  which  I  was 
destined  to  drink  upon  this  tour  of  privation.  In  the  dark- 
ness no  grass  could  be  discovered,  and  on  account  of  the 
dampness  of  the  atmosphere  no  fire  could  be  kindled,  so 
that  it  was  entirely  without  protection  from  the  wet  and  cold 
that  I  had  wearily  to  await  the  following  morning,  when, 
■  half-perished  by  exposure,  in  spite  of  the  continued  storm, 
I  resumed  my  way,  now  become  moi-e  arduous  than  ever, 
because,  as  a  result  of  the  rain,  it  had  become  exceedingly 
slippery.  The  rain  of  this  night  had  been  quite  an  excep- 
tion, and  was  very  transient ;  it  passed  away,  and  the  preva- 
lence of  the  north  wind,  during  the  last  three  days  over- 
powered by  a  current  from  the  south-west,  was  for  a  time 
restored. 

Never  do  I  recollect  having  seen  a  more  cheerful  little 


402  THE  HEART  OF  AFRICA. 

people  than  the  Sehre,  if  I  may  judge  them  by  those  who 
acted  as  my  bearers.  No  mischance,  no  fatigue,  no  hunger 
nor  thirst,  seemed  ever  to  take  the  smallest  effect  upon  the 
happy  tempemment  of  these  poor  negroes.  As  soon  as  we 
halted  they  began  their  jokes  and  pranks.  There  was  not  a 
woe-begone  countenance  to  be  seen ;  groans  and  sighs  were 
utterly  alien  to  their  disposition,  and  no  sooner  was  their 
work  over,  toilsome  as  it  was,  than  they  began  to  play,  like  a 
lot  of  boys  fresh  out  of  school.  Sometimes  one  would  pre- 
tend to  be  a  wild  animal,  and  was  chased  by  the  others ;  or 
sometimes  they  would  contrive  and  carry  out  some  practical 
joke.  Nothing  seemed  to  entertain  them  more  than  to  act 
the  part  of  a  great  clumsy  tortoise,  and  to  waddle  about  on 
all-fours,  accompanying  their  movements  by  all  kinds  of 
grunting  and  clacking  noises.  And  all  this  jocoseness  went 
on  while  their  stomachs  were  empty.  "  If  we  are  hungry," 
they  would  say,  "  we  sing,  and  forget  it." 

We  proceeded  thirteen  miles  still  eastward  from  the  Telle, 
and  then  the  wooded  country,  which  had  continued  in  an 
unbroken  succession  of  thick  trees  of  every  variety  all  the 
way  from  the  *Pongo,  came  to  an  end.  It  was  succeeded  by 
extensive  steppes  and  marshy  lowlands,  which  every  here 
and  there  was  relieved  by  clusters  of  Terminalise.  The 
lowland  was  bounded  towards  the  east  by  a  range  of  hills, 
the  base  of  which  we  reached  about  four  miles  farther  on. 
The  direction  of  the  elevated  land  lay  from  the  south-east 
to  the  north-west. 

Deviating  now  from  the  east  a  little  more  to  the  north, 
our  route  conducted  us  towards  Ngulfala,  a  Seriba  in  Bongo- 
land,  about  fourteen  miles  away.  We  had  to  make  our  way 
through  a  complicated  system  of  rounded  caps  of  gneiss, 
and  to  wind  round  flat-topped  hills  that  gave  the  district 
the  aspect  of  being  a  miniature  mountain-chain,  the  source- 
land  probably  of  the  Ghetty  and  the  watershed  between 
that  stream  and  the  Pongo.     The  rise  in  the  ground  was 


NGULFALA.  403 

very  obvious.  The  highest  of  the  rounded  eminences,  named 
Atyumm,  was  about  200  feet  above  our  path,  and  at  least 
500  feet  above  the  adjacent  steppe  below ;  it  had  a  semi- 
spherical  form,  very  like  that  of  Gumango,  near  Bendo's 
village,  in  the  Niam-niam  country. 

Before  reaching  Ngulfala  we  had  to  cross  the  G-hetty, 
here  a  meagre  stream,  corresponding  to  the  absorbing  nature 
of  the  soil  through  which  it  flows.  The  distance  between 
the  spot  and  where  we  had  crossed  it  at  Bizelly's  Seriba  is 
about  forty  miles,  but  the  river  presented  just  the  same 
aspect — a  broad,  deep  rift  in  the  earth,  with  its  water  almost 
stationaiy  in  its  pools.  A  considerable  number  of  maraboo- 
storks  were  seen,  either  standing  upon  the  banks  or  dipping 
into  the  water-holes  for  fish  and  moUusks  (Anodontie). 

The  altitude  of  the  Seriba  above  the  level  of  the  sea  was 
1905  feet,  about  500  lower  than  Dehm  Adlan  ;  but  it  should 
be  observed  that  an  accidental  rise  in  the  ground  is  made 
simply  by  the  hill-system  of  Atyumm,  itself  nearly  500  feet, 
so  that  (without  allowing  anything  for  the  cutting  of  the 
stream)  the  gradual  descent  of  the  land  during  the  thirty  or 
thirty-five  miles  that  it  extends  eastwards  from  the  Pongo 
must  amount  altogether  to  just  about  1000  feet. 

The  lower  level  of  the  soil  becomes  more  obvious  still 
over  the  next  stretch  of  country.  The  nearest  Seriba  in 
Bongoland,  called  Moody,  belonged,  like  the  one  before  it, 
to  the  possessions  of  Agahd  ;  and  the  thirteen  or  fourteen 
miles  that  led  us  there  brought  us  over  a  tract  of  perpetual 
marshes,  the  flat  steppes  that  divided  them  being  traversed 
by  five  khors  that  we  found  perfectly  dry.  The  names  of 
these  khors  were  reported  to  me  as  the  Mingangah,  the 
Bolongoh,  the  Boddoowee,  the  Doggolomah,  and  the  Kodda- 
hirara,  of  which,  if  the  testimony  of  my  Bongo  bearers  is  to 
be  trusted,  the  two  former  take  their  course  northwards  to 
the  Ghetty,  and  the  three  latter  make  their  way  southwards 
to  the  Wow.  ' 


404 


THE  HEART  OF  AFRICA. 


In  Moody  1  took  a  day's  rest,  as  I  had  done  in  Ngulfala. 
1  required  it  very  much,  as  I  had  taken  a  violent  cold,  and 
felt  altogether  weak  and  out  of  sorts.  Throughout  the  time 
we  halted  there  was  a  strong  north  wind  blowing,  very  keen 
and  chilly. 

Feeliug  somewhat  better  towards  evening,  I  took  a  short 
ramble  amongst  the  homesteads  of  the  place.  It  was  here 
that  I  came  across  the  grave  of  the  departed  Bongo  chief 
Yanga,   with    its   monumental   erection,   of  which   I   have 


A  Bongo  concert. 

already  *  given  an  illustration.  The  Bongo  here  seemed  to 
show  a  remarkable  originality  in  their  contrivances.  In  their 
huts  I  was  continually  finding  sonie  furniture  or  implements 
which  in  other  parts  of  the  country  had  long  become  obso- 
lete. The  variety  of  their  musical  instruments,  as  I  have 
described   them  in  the  chapter  devoted  to  their  manners  and 


*  Vide  vol.  i.,  Chap.  VII. 


NORWAY  RATS.  405 

customs,  is  very  great,  and  to  exemplify  the  use  of  them,  I 
may  here  introduce  a  sketch  which  repi-esents  four  young 
men  whom  I  saw  in  Moody,  and  who  had  met  together  to 
while  away  the  evening  by  performing  quartets. 

The  controller  at  Moody  was  iu  possession  of  a  couple  of 
caracal-lynxes,  which  he  had  caught  when  they  were  quite 
young,  and  which  he  was  training,  intending  to  send  them 
when  full-grown  to  Khartoom.  One  of  the  Bongo  men  was 
employed  in  attending  to  them,  and  in  order  to  keep  them 
supplied  with  food  he  was  obliged  to  spend  the  greater 
portion  of  his  time  in  catching  rats.  He  used  to  bring  them 
home,  tied  up  iu  dozens,  from  the  banks  of  the  neighbouring 
river-course.  These  rats  were  of  a  reddish-brown  colour, 
with  white  bellies,  and  were  called  "luny"  by  the  Bongo  ; 
except  that  they  are  smaller  in  size,  they  are  very  like  what 
we  know  as  "  Norway  rats."  They  are  never  found  except  in 
the  proximity  of  water,  and  appear  to  be  indistinguishable 
from  those  which  infest  the  huts  and  granaries  in  every 
respect  but  in  colour.  "Whether  the  Norway  rats  in  their 
dispersion  have  ever  reached  as  far  as  these  remote  districts 
is  a  question  that  I  cannot  answer,  as  the  investigation  of  the 
specimens  I  brought  with  me  has  not  yet  been  completed. 

Two  leagues  to  the  south-east  of  Moody  lies  a  subsidiary 
Seriba  of  Kurshook  All's,  named  Moddu-Mahah;  and  three 
leagues  farther  on  in  the  same  direction  is  the  chief  Seriba 
of  Hassaballa,  known  amongst  the  Bongo  as  Gellow.  This  is 
situated  on  the  hither  side  of  the  Wow,  and  at  no  great  dis- 
tance from  it.  The  narrow  strip  of  land  between  the  Wow 
and  the  Dyoor  contains  at  least  half  a  dozen  smaller  Seribas, 
which  lie  along  the  route  to  the  Bellanda,  and  which  belong 
partly  to  Kurshook  Ali  and  partly  to  Hassaballa. 

The  little  Seriba  Moody,  together  with  all  its  huts,  was 
overshadowed  by  a  single  fig-tree,  of  such  enormous  growth 
that  it  was  quite  a  magnificent  example  of  the  development 
which  that  tree  may  attain.     It  belonged  to  the  species 

Vol.  H.— 28 


406  THE  HEAKT  OF  AFRICA. 

named  tlie  Fieus  lutea,  the  rabehry  of  the  Bongo.  It  was 
not  that  the  height  of  the  stem  of  this  giant  of  Moody 
was  very  excessive ;  the  remarkable  growth  displayed  itself 
rather  in  the  prodigious  thickness  and  spreading  habits  of 
the  powerful  arms,  every  one  of  wliich  was  so  massive  that 
it  might  stand  a  comparison  with  the  stoutest  of  our  pines 
and  firs.  The  peculiar  bark  only  appears  on  parts  of  the 
stem  ;  its  colour  is  light  grey,  and,  like  that  of  the  plane,  it 
is  scored  with  diagonal  lines.  All  the  boughs,  right  up  to 
the  highest,  are  furnished  with  external  pendant  roots, 
that  hang  in  the  air  like  a  huge  beard;  they  encompass 
the  trunk  of  the  tree  with  a  regular  network,  like  rope 
and  string.  But  it  should  be  observed  of  this  species  that 
its  principal  branches  altogether  fail  in  throwing  out  those 
perpendicular  roots,  which,  falling  straight  downwards,  find 
their  way  into  the  earth  and  give  such  a  remarkable  ap- 
pearance to  trees  like  those  venerable  sycamores  of  Egypt, 
which  stand  as  though  they  made  the  pillared  corridor 
of  a  stately  coliseum.* 

A  singular  story  was  associated  with  this  noble  tree  at 
Moody,  and  I  found  the  entire  population  of  the  Seriba  still 
)mder  the  influence  of  the  astonishment  and  alarm  that  had 
only  recently  been  excited..  It  appeared  that  one  of  the 
great  branches,  having  become  worm-eaten  and  decayed, 
had  fallen  to  the  ground,  and  as  it  fell  would  inevitably 
have  utterly  smashed  in  a  contiguous  hut  if  it  had  tumbled 
in  any  other  direction  than  it  did.  This  ffill  of  the  huge 
bough  was  attributed  by  the  Nubians  to  the  direct  agency  of 
an  "  evil  eye,"  which  it  was  alleged  had  been  directed  against 
the  tree  by  a  soldier  who  had  happened  to  be  passing  through 


*  A  sycamore  of  this  description  is  to  be  seen  on  the  island  of  Rodah  in 
Cairo,  in  the  garden  of  the  Duke  of  Dumont,  where  the  formation  of  pillars 
(promoted  by  hanging  pitchers  of  water  on  tlie  branches)  consists  of  two  per- 
fectly concentric  circles  that  girdle  the  whole  stem.  This  sycamore  is  one 
of  the  most  remarkable  natural  curiosities  of  Egypt,  and  is  well  worth  a  visit. 


EFFECT  OF  THE  EVIL  EYE.  407 

the  place  the  day  before  my  arrival.  Just  as  usual  the 
people  had  been  collected  in  front  of  their  huts  under  shade 
of  the  tree,  when  the  man  in  question,  pointing  significantly 
to  the  bougii,  said,  "  That  bough  up  there  is  quite  rotten ;  it 
would  be  a  bad  business  if  it  were  to  come  tumbling  down 
upon  your  heads."  No  sooner  said  than  done.  The  words 
were  hardly  out  of  the  fellow's  mouth  before  there  was  a 
prodigious  craclcing  and  creaking,  and  down  came  the  huge 
branch  with  a  crasli  to  the  ground.  There  lay  the  fragments. 
I  heard  the  testimony  from  the  very  lips  of  eye-witnesses, 
and  what  could  I  say  ? 

It  took  us  two  days  more  to  accomplish  our  return  journey 
to  Wow.  The  chief  Seriba  of  Agahd's  company  lay  to  the 
north-east  of  Moody,  and,  allowing  for  a  slight  deviation  from 
the  direct  route,  was  about  thirty-five  miles  distant.  The 
country  was  clothed  with  light  bushwood,  but  in  no  part  did 
it  exhibit  anything  like  the  same  richness  of  foliage  as  the 
western  lands  that  we  had  left  behind.  We  had  to  pass  over 
two  low-lying  marsh-districts,  Katyirr  and  Dumburre,  where, 
hidden  amongst  the  tall,  half-withered  grass,  we  found  several 
cavities  filled  by  springs  of  water.  At  Dumburre  we  came 
across  traces  of  a  deserted  settlement,  which,  according  to 
the  statements  of  the  Bongo  of  my  party,  were  the  remains 
of  the  very  earliest  Seriba  that  had  been  established  in  the 
land.  Our  night  was  spent  upon  the  borders  of  a  marshy 
stream  called  the  Moll,  and  was  very  uncomfortable  on 
account  of  a  heavy  north-east  gale  which  blew  from  ten 
o'clock. 

The  dogs  that  were  with  me  were  kept  in  a  constant  state 
of  excitement  by  the  perpetual  rushing  that  went  on  in  the 
bushwood,  and  it  was  impossible  to  restrain  them  from 
rushing  off  into  the  darkness,  and  carrying  on  a  hunting 
game  on  their  own  account.  All  through  the  night  they 
kept  running  in  and  out  of  the  camp,  very  often  returning 
bespattered  with  blood.     A  i'arther  indication  of  the  abuud- 


408  THE  HEART  OF  AFRICA. 

ance  of  wild  animals  that  existed  in  the  neighbourhood  was 
afforded  by  the  continual  howling  of  hyaenas,  which,  in  a 
manner  that  was  quite  unusual,  kept  us  disturbed  all  through 
the  night. 

For  our  supper  that  evening  we  had  had  a  couple  of  fine 
reed-rats  measuring  just  twenty-one  inches  from  their  snouts 
to  the  root  of  the  tail.  Before  leaving  Dumburre  I  had  had 
a  small  steppe-burning  of  my  own.  By  the  help  of  my 
bearers,  who  were  set  to  the  work  of  beating  the  bush,  I 
had  quite  an  interesting  hunt,  the  produce  of  which  had 
been  two  zebra-ichneumons  and  the  two  far-el-boos  (reed- 
rats),  which  had  been  carried  with  us  in  triumph  to  the 
camp. 

Beyond  the  Moll  we  entered  upon  a  hilly  region,  the 
ground  being  much  broken  by  scattered  shrubs.  On  both 
sides  of  the  pathway  lines  of  red  rocky  hills  emerged  in  the 
distance,  varied  occasionally  by  flats  and  rounded  projections 
of  the  ever-abundant  gneiss.  The  next  watercourse  to 
which  we  came  was  the  Dabohlo,  a  marshy  spot,  but  now 
nearly  dry,  upon  which  we  could  discern  the  traces  of  a 
large  number  of  buffaloes.  Here,  also,  we  had  a  very  prolific 
hattue  of  guinea-fowl ;  for  the  early  morning  hours  had 
tempted  them  to  collect  by  hundreds  around  the  little 
[)uddlts  which  were  left  standing  every  here  and  there 
within  the  limits  of  the  marsh. 

Far  as  the  eye  could  reach  there  was  nothing  to  be  seen 
but  a  gently-sloping  steppe,  entirely  void  of  trees,  which  it 
took  the  bearers  3000  paces  to  get  over;  but  this  accom- 
plished, we  reached  a  depression  in  the  same  marsh-lands 
(now,  however,  perfectly  dry)  that  were  relieved  in  various 
places  by  groups  of  Terminalice.  Beyond  this  the  ground 
began  to  take  a  considerable  ascent,  the  valley  upon  the  far 
east  being  bounded  by  a  range  of  hills  that  ran  from  south- 
east to  north-west ;  and  the  rise  continued  through  the  four 
remaining  miles  that  brought  us  to  the  Seriba. 


RETURN  TO  MY  FRIEND  KHALIL.  409 

Thus,  after  forty-nine  days'  absence,  and  numbering 
876,000  paces  in  the  interval,  I  again  returned  to  the 
quarters  of  my  good  friend  Klialil.  While  I  had  been  away 
he  had,  for  my  special  accommodation,  most  considerately 
erected  some  new  and  pretty  huts,  in  which  1  was  very 
pleased  to  spend  the  remainder  of  my  sojourn. 


CHAPTER    XXIIL 

KatliL'rine  II.'s  villages.  Goods  bartered  by  slave-traders.  Agents  of  slave- 
traders.  Baseness  of  Fakis.  Horrible  scene.  Enthusiasm  of  slave- 
dealers.  Hospitality  shown  to  slave-dealers.  Three  classes  of  Gellahbas. 
Intercourse  with  Mofio.  Price  of  slaves.  Relative  value  of  races.  Private 
slaves  of  tlie  Nubians.  Voluntary  slaves.  Slave-women.  The  murhaga. 
Agricultural  slave-labour.  Population  of  the  district.  Five  sources  of  the 
slave  trade.  Repressive  measures  of  the  Government.  Slave-raids  of 
Mehemet  Ali.  Slow  progress  of  humanity.  Accomplishment  of  half  the 
work.  Egypt" s  mission.  No  co-operation  from  Islamism.  Regeneration 
of  the  East.  Depopulation  of  Africa.  Indignation  of  the  traveller. 
Means  for  suppressing  the  slave  trade.  Commissioners  of  slaves.  Chinese 
immigration.    Foundation  and  protection  of  great  States. 

Probably  the  overland  slave-trade  along  the  roads  of 
Kordofan  had  never  been  so  flourishing  as  in  the  winter  of 
1870-71,  when  I  found  myself  at  its  very  fountain-head. 
Already,  in  the  previous  summer,  had  Sir  Samuel  Baker, 
with  praiseworthy  energy,  commenced  scouring  the  waters 
of  the  Upper  Nile,  and  by  capluring  all  slave-vessels  and 
abolishing  a  large  "  chasua"  belonging  to  the  Mudir  of  Fashoda, 
had  left  no  doubt  as  to  the  earnestness  of  his  purpose ;  but 
whether  it  was  that  his  peremptory  measures  had  driven  the 
Gellahbas  of  Kordofan  to  a  common  centre,  or  whetlier  the 
reported  scarcity  of  cotton-stuffs  in  the  Seribas  had  raised 
their  hopes  of  doing  some  business,  or  whether,  as  perhaps 
was  most  likely,  the  introduction  of  Egyptian  troops  into 
the  Bahr-el-Ghazal  district  opened  a  fresh  and  attractive 
avenue  to  their  avarice — one  t.iing  is  certain  that  neither 
Baker  nor  the  Government  (tha  Viceroy  being  free  from 
blame  in  the  matter)  accomplished  anything  like  a  practical 


..^. 


nterj 


,^:k\ 


GOODS  FOR  BARTER.  411 

supervision  over  the  local  authorities  in  Kordofun.  Satisiieci 
with  having,  to  the  eyes  of  the  world  at  large,  made  a  clean 
sweep  of  the  waters  of  the  Nile,  Sir  Samuel  and  his  sup- 
porters did  not  perceive,  or  could  not  remedy,  what  was  going 
on  on  either  side  of  the  great  river-highway.  To  anyone 
who  should  now  enter  the  country  under  the  impression  that 
the  slave-trade  on  the  Upper  Nile  was  for  ever  abolished, 
and  should  subsequently  learn  by  contrast  the  true  condi- 
tion of  the  lands,  a  scene  would  be  presented  that  might 
well  remind  him  of  the  painted  villages  that  were  exhibited 
to  Katherine  II.  on  her  tour  through  Southern  Kussia. 

The  sheikh  Seebehr  complained  bitterly  of  the  great  rush 
of  Gellahbas  to  his  establishment,  and  told  me  that  his  corn 
was  so  nearly  exhausted  that  his  land  was  threatened  with 
famine.  From  his  own  mouth  I  learnt  that  during  the 
winter  two  large  caravans  had  come  through  Shekka,  and 
had  brought  into  the  country  the  enormous  quantity  of 
2000  of  these  petty  adventurers ;  by  the  middle  of  January 
the  number  was  still  larger,  and  at  the  beginning  of  February 
was  swollen  again  by  600  or  700  more. 

All  these  traders  break  their  journeys  across  the  steppes 
of  the  Baggara  by  making  a  lengthened  stay  at  Shekka,  for 
the  purpose  of  purchasing  oxen  both  for  riding  and  for 
carrying  burdens ;  here  also  it  is  their  practice  to  lay  in  a 
stock  of  butter  *  for  bartering  in  the  Seribas,  where  it  is  in 
great  demand.  The  goods  that  they  bring  into  the  Seriba 
districts  are  principally  calico,  "  trumba,"  a  coarse  material 
woven  in  Sennaar,  and  English  cotton  of  two  sorts,  "  ameri- 
kani  and  damoor  ;"  they  also  make  a  market  of  a  number  of 
firearms,  mostly  ordinary  double-barrelled  guns,  of  Belgian 
manufacture,  worth  from  ten  to  twenty  dollars  apiece ;  in 
addition  to  these  they  frequently  carry  on  a  brisk  trade  in 


*  The  Baggara  butter  is  of  an  excellent  quality.  It  is  packed  in  wicker 
haskets,  which  are  made  impervious  to  damp  by  being  smeared  inside  with 
the  pulp  of  the  balanites. 


412  THE  HEART  OF  AFRICA. 

all  kinds  of  knick-knacks — pipes,  looking-glasses,  Turkish 
slippers,  red  fezzes,  and  carpets. 

Every  Gellahba,  according  to  his  means,  takes  into  his 
service  a  number  of  the  Baggara,  to  whom  he  entrusts  the 
training  and  management  of  his  cattle.  Camels  invariably 
succumb  to  the  climate  in  a  very  short  time,  and  are  con- 
sequently but  rarely  used  as  a  means  of  transport.  All  the 
traders  ride  asses,  and  it  may  safely  be  asserted  that  they 
pass  the  greater  part  of  their  lives  on  the  backs  of  these 
animals ;  in  fact,  a  petty  pedlar  of  the  Soudan  without  his 
donkey  would  be  a  sight  almost  as  remarkable  as  a  Samoyede 
without  his  reindeer.  Besides  its  rider  the  donkey  will  carry 
not  much  less  than  ten  pieces  of  cotton ;  if  it  survives  the 
journey  it  is  exchanged  in  the  Seribas  for  a  slave,  or  perhaps 
for  tv\o;  its  load  of  goods  will  bring  in  three  more,  and  thus, 
under  favourable  circumstances,  a  speculative  vagrant,  who 
has  started  with  nothing  beyond  his  donkey  and  five  pounds' 
worth  of  goods,  will  find  himself  in  possession  of  at  least  four 
slaves,  which  may  be  disposed  of  in  Khartoom  for  250  dollars 
(50Z.)  The  return  journey  is  always  made  on  foot,  and  the 
unfortunate  slaves  have  to  carry  all  the  articles  necessary  for 
travelling. 

But  quite  apart  from  these  pettifogging  traders,  whose 
innate  propensity  for  trafficking  in  human  beings  can  only 
be  compared  to  the  ineradicable  love  of  usury  that  charac- 
terises the  itinerant  Polish  Jews,  there  are  numbers  of  more 
important  investors,  who,  protected  by  a  large  retinue  of 
armed  slaves  and  accompanied  by  long  trains  of  loaded  oxen 
and  asses,  carry  on  a  business  which  brings  many  hundreds 
of  their  fellow-creatures  into  the  market.  These  more 
wholesale  dealers  have  their  partners  or  agents  permanently 
settled  in  regular  establishments  in  the  large  Seribas.  More 
frequently  than  not  these  agents  are  priests,  or  Fakis  as  they 
are  called,  though  strictly  the  term  Faki  belongs  only  to 
those  whose  profession  it  is  to  explain  the  Scriptures ;  it  is, 


FAKIS,  413 

however,  an  indisputable  fact  that  the  slave-trade  is  included 
amongst  the  secondary  occupations  of  this  class,  and,  as 
matter  of  fact,  they  are  all  more  or  less  soiled  with  the 
defilements  of  this  scandalous  business.  In  the  larger  towns, 
and  especially  in  Khartoora,  there  is  every  opportunity  for 
observing  their  doings,  and  things  often  come  to  light  which, 
except  they  were  actually  witnessed,  would  seem  perfectly 
incredible.  In  finding  scope  for  their  commercial  pro- 
pensities they  practice  the  most  heterogeneous  trades :  the 
poorer  Fakis  act  as  brokers,  retail-dealers,  amulet-writers, 
quacks,  schoolmasters,  and  match-makers ;  whilst  the  richer 
and  more  educated  class  are  directoi's  of  schools  and  mana- 
gers of  inns,  where  they  place  paid  subordinates  to  carry  on 
their  business.  The  doctrines  of  the  Prophet  are  taught  in 
their  schools,  whilst  the  merissa-shops  are  dedicated  in  a 
large  degree  to  the  worship  of  Venus.  But,  in  spite  of 
everything,  these  people  are  held  in  the  greatest  veneration, 
and  their  reputation  for  piety  not  unfrequently  survives  the 
generation  in  which  they  live ;  they  are  buried  in  the  public 
places  for  prayer,  the  place  of  interment  being  marked  by 
small  white  banners  as  hallowed  ground.  A  few  words  will 
suffice  to  exhibit  these  holy  men  in  their  true  colours. 

NVith  the  Suras  of  the  Koran  in  one  hand  and  their 
operating-knife*  in  the  other,  they  rove  from  Seriba  to 
Seriba  all  over  tlie  country,  leading  what  might  be  termed 
in  the  most  rigid  sense  a  life  of  perpetual  prayer ;  every 
other  word  that  they  utter  is  either  an  invocation  of  Allah 
or  a  direct  appeal  to  Mohammed-el-Rasool,  But  the  wide 
difference  between  faith  and  practice  is  exemplified  in  the 
unrighteous  dealings  of  these  Fakis ;  never  did  I  see  slaves 
so  mercilessly  treated  as  by  these  fanatics,  and  yet  they 
would  confer  upon  the  poor  souls,  whom  they  had  purchased 


*  The  Fakis  who  come  fiom  Daifoor  are  probably  the  only  people  in  the 
world  who  still  practise  the  ;iboniinable  business  of  emasculating  boys,  auil 
Lunuchft  arc  laidilly  becoming  more  rare. 


414  THE  HEAKT  OF  AFRICA. 

like  stolen  goods,  for  a  mere  bagatelle,  the  most  religious  of 
names,  such  as  "  Allagabo  "  (i.  e.  given  by  God).  The  fol- 
lowing incident  will  show  that  with  their  horrible  blasphemy 
they  do  not  hesitate  to  combine  such  cruelty  as  the  com- 
monest scavenger  would  shrink  from  using  to  a  dying  dog. 

In  one  of  their  convoys  were  some  poor,  miserable  Mittoo- 
slaves,  almost  too  emaciated  to  bear  the  heavy  yoke  (the 
sheyba)  that  was  fastened  to  their  necks.  Going,  as  I  was 
wont,  to  my  kitchen  garden,  I  had  constantly  to  pass  the  huts 
in  which  they  were  kept.  One  morning,  hearing  an  unusual 
outcry,  I  paused  to  inquire  what  was  the  matter,  A  scene, 
such  as  my  pfen  can  only  indignantly  depict,  met  my  gaze. 
A  dying  man  had  been  dragged  from  the  hut,  and  was  being 
belaboured  by  the  cruelest  of  lashes  to  prove  whether  life 
was  yet  extinct.  The  long  white  stripes  on  the  withered 
skin  testified  to  the  agonies  that  the  poor  wretch  was 
enduring,  and  the  vociferations  I  had  heard  were  the  shouts 
of  his  persecutors,  who  were  yelling  out  their  oaths  and 
imprecations.  "The  cursed  dog,  he  is  not  dead  yet!  the 
heathen  rascal  won't  die ! "  Then,  as  though  resolved  to 
accumulate  cruelty  upon  cruelty,  the  Faki's  slave-boys  not 
only  began  to  break  out  into  revolting  jeers,  but  actually 
played  at  football  with  the  writhing  body  of  the  still 
gasping  victim;  truly  it  seemed  to  be  with  justice  that 
La  Fontaine  had  recorded :  "  Get  age  est  sans  pitie."  The 
horrible  contortions  of  the  sufferer's  countenance,  even  if 
they  failed  to  excite  commiseration,  were  sufficient  to  melt 
the  hardest  of  hearts;  but  so  far  from  this,  the  unfeeling 
reprobates  were  loud  in  their  asseverations  that  the  poor 
wretch  was  only  shamming,  and  intended  to  sneak  off 
unobserved.  His  pitiable  appearance,  however,  gainsaid 
their  words,  and  he  was  finally  dragged  off  into  the  woods, 
where  a  few  weeks  afterwards  I  found  his  skull,  which  I 
deposited  with  those  of  many  others  of  his  fellow-sufferers 
in  the  Museum  in  Berlin. 


GELLAHBAS.  415 

Such  is  the  history  of  the  skull  marked  No.  36  in  my 
collection,  and  such  are  the  deeds  perpetrated  in  the  very 
face  of  death  by  Mohammedan  priests,  who  consider  them- 
selves the  very  pillars  of  their  faith.  And  yet  our  mis- 
sionaries, perhaps  the  most  guileless  men  in  the  world, 
start  by  putting  themselves  on  equal  terms  with  these 
Mussulnien,  and  endeavour  to  make  headway  against  their 
faith,  when  it  is  really  a  simple  case  of  morality  that  is  at 
issue.  The  history  of  Islamism  has  ever  been  &  history  of 
crime,  and  to  Christian  morality  alone  do  we  owe  all  the 
social  good  that  we  enjoy. 

It  must  not,  however,  be  supposed  that  the  minor  retail 
trade  in  slaves  is  uniformly  lucrative.  The  smaller  Gellahbas 
are  exposed  to  numberless  mischances ;  if  their  ox  or  ass 
should  die  upon  the  journey,  they  must  at  once  dispose  of 
tlieir  other  property  at  any  price ;  then,  again,  they  are 
liable  to  suffer  from  a  lack  of  corn  during  their  journey 
across  the  wilderness;  and,  what  is  perhaps  the  sorest 
disaster  that  can  befall  them,  their  slaves  so  frequently 
run  away,  that  their  profits  are  dispersed  before  they  are 
realised.  Their  powers  of  endurance  are  truly  wonderful. 
I  repeatedly  asked  them  what  induced  them  to  leave  their 
homes,  to  change  their  mode  of  living,  and  to  suffer  the 
greatest  hardships  in  a  strange  land,  all  for  the  sake  of  pur- 
suing an  occupation  that  only  in  the  rarest  cases  would  keep 
them  from  absolute  want.  "  We  want  '  groosh '  "  (piastres), 
they  would  reply ;  "  so  why  should  we  live  at  home  ? " 
And  when  I  further  urged  that  they  had  far  better  lead 
respectable  lives,  and  either  grow  corn  or  breed  cattle,  they 
answered,  "  No,  that  wouldn't  answer  our  purpose ;  when  we 
are  at  home,  we  are  exhausted  by  the  demands  of  the 
Government,  and  corn  doesn't  bring  us  in  any  money." 
Not  that  the  Government  is  really  so  hard  upon  the  people 
as  they  assert;  the  fact  is  that  they  are  incorrigibly  lazy, 
and  have  so  great  a  dislike  to  work  of  any  sort  that  they 


41C  THE  HEART  OF  AFRICA. 

do  not  care  to  be  able  to  pay  their  taxes,  which  do  not 
much  exceed  those  that  are  usually  demanded  in  Egypt 
proper.  To  expect  that  these  slave-traders  should  renounce 
of  their  own  accord  the  business  which  suits  them  so  com- 
pletely, and  for  which  they  will  endure  any  amount  of 
hardship,  would  be  almost  as  unreasonable  as  to  expect 
Esquimaux  to  grow  melons. 

All  trade  is  undeniably  in  a  very  stagnant  condition  in 
the  Egyptian  Soudan;  the  rich  man  gives  nothing  away, 
but  lives  like  a  dog,  and  has  no  desire  beyond  that  of 
privately  amassing  wealth ;  of  domestic  comfort,  or  luxury 
even  on  the  limited  Oriental  scale,  he  has  not  the  faintest 
conception.  There  is  consequently  no  demand  for  labour, 
no  circulation  of  money  in  wages,  and  it  is  manifestly 
impossible  for  trade  to  flourish  as  long  as  the  rich  man 
consumes  nothing ;  and  equally  impossible  for  the  poor  man 
to  thrive  while  the  rich  man  keeps  his  retinue  of  slaves, 
who  do  all  he  wants  without  requiring  payment.  Thus 
slavery  itself  ever  reproduces  slavery. 

One  material  alleviation  to  the  position  of  the  Gellalibas 
is  the  open  hospitality  they  meet  with  in  all  the  Seribas. 
Besides  the  mercenaries  of  the  various  ivory  companies — the 
controllers,  clerks,  agents,  storekeepers,  and  oth.'r  oflScials — 
they  find  numbers  of  their  compatriots  and  brethren  in  the 
faith  who  have  taken  up  their  abode  in  these  lands,  and  who 
subsist  free  of  expense  on  what  is  gained  by  the  sweat  of  the 
negroes ;  mere  idle  drones,  as  it  were,  living  on  the  produce 
of  the  workers.  The  rabble  thus  collected  consists  partly  of 
escaped  convicts  and  partly  of  refugees  or  outlaws  who  are 
evading  their  proper  punishment,  and  if  they  could  be  swept 
from  off  the  face  of  the  land,  there  would  then  be  food 
enough  for  half  a  score  of  regiments,  should  the  Egyptian 
Government  determine  to  station  them  in  the  countrv. 

Just  in  the  same  way  as  in  the  Egyptian  Soudan,  the 
actual  cost  of  travelling  in  these  lands  is  next  to  nothing; 


THREE  CLASSES  OF  GELLAHBAS.  417 

every  new  coiner  to  a  Seriba  is  treated  to  kissere  and 
melah,  and  his  slaves  and  donkey  are  provided  with  corn 
enough  to  keep  tliem  from  starvation.  Wherever  they  go 
the  Gellahbas  may  stay  as  long  as  they  please,  and  accord- 
ingly they  wander  all  over  the  district  from  the  west  to 
the  east,  as  far  as  the  Kohl  and  the  Dyemit,  and  only 
just  before  the  commencement  of  the  rainy  season  they  re- 
assemble at  their  common  place  of  rendezvous  in  Seebehr's 
Seriba,  where  they  re-organise  their  caravans,  and  make  their 
final  preparations  for  starting  for  Kordofan. 

The  Gellahbas  who,  either  on  their  own  account  or  as 
representatives  of  others,  carry  on  the  slave-trade  in  this 
district  may  be  divided  into  three  classes : — 

1.  The  petty  dealers,  who,  with  only  a  single  iiss  or 
bullock,  come  in  January  and  return  in  March  or  April. 

2.  The  agents  or  partners  of  the  great  slave  merchants 
in  Darfoor  and  Kordofan,  who  have  settled  in  the  Seribas, 
nearly  always  in  the  capacity  of  Fakis. 

3.  The  colonised  slave-dealers,  who  live  on  their  own 
property  in  the  Dehms  of  the  west. 

The  last  of  these  form  the  only  class  who  ever  penetrate 
beyond  the  bounds  of  the  Seriba  district  into  the  negro- 
countries.  They  nearly  all  direct  their  course  from  the 
Dehms  in  Dar  Ferteet  to  the  territories  of  Mofio,  the  great 
Niam-niam  king  of  the  west,  and  are  accompanied  by  con- 
siderable bands  of  armed  men,  whom  they  recruit  for  this 
purpose  from  the  best  of  their  slaves.  Contrary  to  the 
policy' of  the  Khartoom  ivory-merchants,  the  Gellahbas  have 
by  degrees  supplied  King  Mofio  with  such  a  number  of  fire- 
arras  that  he  is  now  said  to  have  at  his  command  a  force 
of  300  fully-equipped  warriors,  a  formidable  fighting-force 
with  which  he  seriously  threatens  any  expedition  of  the 
Khartoomers  that  may  enter  his  dominions.  His  store  of 
slaves  appears  absolutely  inexhaustible ;  year  after  year 
bis   territories   go   on   yielding  thousands  upon  thousands, 


41K  THE  HEART  OF  AFRICA. 

which  he  obtains  either  from  the  slave  tribes  *  that  he  has 
subjected  or  by  raids  organised  against  the  surrounding 
nations. 

As  regards  the  price  paid  for  slaves,  I  can  only  report 
what  I  personally  witnessed  in  the  Seribas.  Copper  and 
calico  are  used  as  the  principal  mediums  of  exchange. 
Calico  is  very  fluctuating  in  its  value,  which  is  always  first 
reduced  to  its  equivalent  in  copper.  In  1871  thirty  rottoli 
of  copper  t  in  Dehm  Nduggo  and  twenty-five  rottoli  in  the 
Bongo  anl  Dyoor  districts  was  taken  for  young  slaves  of 
both  sexes  of  the  class  called  "  sittahsi "  (literally,  six  spans 
high),  meaning  children  of  eight  or  ten  years  of  age ;  thus 
making  the  average  price  in  this  country,  according  to  the 
value  of  copper  in  Khartoom,  to  be  about  7^  Maria 
Theresa  dollars  (IZ.  10s.);  particularly  pretty  women-slaves, 
called  "  nadeef,"  *'.  e.  clean  or  pure,  fetch  nearly  double  that 
price,  and  are  very  rarely  procured  for  exportation,  because 
they  are  in  great  demand  amongst  the  numerous  settlers  in 
the  country.  Strong  adult  women,  who  are  ugly,  are  rather 
•  heaper  than  the  young  girls,  whilst  old  women  are  worth 
next  to  nothing,  and  can  be  bought  for  a  mere  bagatelle. 
Full-grown  men  are  rarely  purchased  as  slaves,  being 
troublesome  to  control  and  difficult  of  transport.  Slaves  in 
the  East  are  usually  in  demand  as  objets  de  luxe,  and  conse- 
quently lead  an  idle  life,  and  are  not  valued  according  to 
their  capabilities  for  labour. 

In  consequence  of  the  glut  of  wares  in  the  market  during 
the  winter  of  1871,  the  quoted  value  of  slaves  rose  to  almost 
double  that  of  the  previous  year,  and  very  high  prices  were 
paid  in  cotton  stuffs.     As  much  as  four  or  six  pieces  of  the 


*  These  belong  to  tlie  tribes  of  the  Sehre,  the  Nduggoo,  the  Fakkerey,  the 
Baddoh,  and  the  Tabbob,  &c. 

t  A  rottoli  is  equal  to  15  oz.  IBdrs.  avoirdupois.  Thirty  rottoli  is  here  a 
somewhat  imaginary  weight,  being  not  worth  more  than  eighteen  Egyptian 
rottoli. 


PRICE  OF  SLAVES.  419 

ordinary  sort  (damoor)  were  paid  for  the  "  sittahsi,"  each 
piece  measuring  twenty-four  yards  in  length,  and  worth  two 
Maria  Theresa  dollars  in  Khartoom.  Next  to  white  cotton 
materials  firearms  are  a  very  favourite  means  of  payment,  and 
bring  in  a  far  larger  proportional  profit.  For  an  ordinary  double- 
barrelled  gun  of  French  or  Belgian  manufacture,  a  slave- 
dealer  can  purchase  two  or  three  sittahsi,  and  if  the  weapon 
has  gilt  facings  he  can  sometime's  obtain  as  many  as  five  for  it. 

The  price  of  slaves  in  Khartoom  at  that  time  might  be 
reckoned  to  be  at  least  six  times  their  original  cost ;  of  course 
it  will  be  understood  that  the  value  would  be  regulated  to  a 
great  extent  by  the  more  or  less  severe  measures  taken  by 
the  local  government  for  the  suppression  of  the  trade  ;  but 
at  the  time  of  my  departure  from  Khartoom,  at  a  period 
when  the  market  was  tolerably  unrestrained,  no  slave  could 
be  obtained  for  less  than  forty  Maria  Theresa  dollars,  and 
that  was  the  lowest  price  given  for  elderly  women  only  fit 
for  household  service. 

The  slaves  brought  from  the  Bahr-el-Ghazal  disti:icts  vary 
in  value  according  to  their  nationality.  The  Bongo  are  the 
most  prized,  as  they  are  easily  taught  and  are  docile  and 
faithful,  and  are,  besides,  good-looking  and  industrious. 
True  Niam-niam,  especially  young  girls,  are,  however,  much 
dearer  than  the  best  Bongo  slaves,  but  they  are  so  extremely 
rare  as  hardly  to  admit  of  having  a  price  quoted.  The  Mittoo 
are  of  little  value,  being  ugly,  lean,  and  incapable  of  enduring- 
fatigue  or  even  of  undertaking  any  regular  work.  No 
amount  of  good  living  or  kind  treatment  can  overcome 
the  love  of  freedom  of  the  Babuckur;  they  take  every 
oportunity  of  effecting  an  escape,  and  can  only  be  secured  by 
fetters  and  by  the  yoke  ;  *  the  same  may  also  be  said  of  the 
Loobah  and  Abaka.     The  demand  for  slaves  in  the  Seribas 


*  The  portrait  on  the  following  page  is  that  of  a  Babuckur  slave  bound  by  a 
leather  rope.  Her  piteous  expression  of  countenance  sliows  her  distress  at 
her  condition. 

Vol.  II.— 29 


420 


THE  HEART  OF  AFRICA. 


through  which  I  travelled  would  alone  sufifice  to  support  a 
very  flourishing  trade.  Numerically  the  Mohammedan 
settlers  bear  a  high  ratio  to  the  native  population,  and  in 
some  of  the  western  territories,  as  amongst  the  Kredy,  Golo, 
and  Sehre,'they  are  actually  considerably  in  excess  of  the 
total  number  of  natives,  who  only  consist  of  bearers  and 


Babuckur  slave. 

agricultural  labourers.  Taken  one  with  another  every  Nubian 
possesses  about  three  slaves,  and  thus  it  may  easily  be  conceived 
that  the  computation  is  not  too  high  that  places  the  total 
number  of  private  slaves  in  the  country  at  between  50,000 
and  60,000.  These  private  slaves  are  quite  distinct  from 
those  that  are  kept  in  store  and  used  as  merchandise ;  they 
may  be  divided  into  four  categories : — 

1.  Boys  from  seven  to  ten  years  of  age,  who  are  employed 
to  carry  guns  and  ammunition:  every  Nubian  soldier  pos- 


FAROOKH.  421 

sesses  at  least  one  of  these  juvenille  armour-bearers.    Wheu 
they  get  older  they  are  included  in  my  next  category. 

2.  The  second  class  includes  the  greater  part  of  the  full- 
grown  natives  in  the  Seribas.  They  are  termed  '•  Farookh," 
"  Narakeek,"  or  "  Bazingir,"  and,  being  provided  with  guns, 
form  a  kind  of  Nizzam,  whose  duty  it  is  to  accompany  the 
natives  in  all  their  expeditions,  whether  for  war  or  for 
trading  purposes.  These  black  soldiers  constitute  nearly 
half  the  fighting  force  in  all  the  Seribas,  and  play  a  pro- 
minent part  in  time  of  war.  It  is  the  duty  of  the  Farookh 
to  scour  the  negro  villages  in  search  of  com,  to  assemble  the 
bearers,  and  to  keep  under  coercion  any  that  are  refractory 
in  the  wilderness.  In  every  action  the  hardest  work  is  put 
upon  their  shoulders,  and  they  have  not  only  to  sustain  the 
chief  brunt  of  any  actual  conflict  with  the  savages,  but  to 
provide  for  the  safe  custody  of  all  prisoners.  If  the  control- 
lers of  the  Seribas  had  a  sufficient  number  of  these  Farookh, 
they  might  well  dispense  altogether  with  their  Nubian 
soldiers,  except  for  one  reason,  to  which  I  have  already 
referred,  viz.  the  constant  danger  of  their  running  away,  a 
risk  that  makes  them  practically  less  reliable  than  the 
Nubians,  who  never  think  of  such  a  thing,  and  even  if  they 
did,  would  only  join  another  company.  The  Farookh  have 
wives,  children,  and  land  in  the  Seribas,  and  some  of  the 
elder  amongst  them  have  even  slave  boys  of  their  own  to 
carry  their  guns.  Their  ranks  are  largely  increased  after 
every  Niam-niam  expedition,  as  numbers  of  youug  natives 
will  often  voluntarily  attach  themselves  to  the  Nubians,  and, 
highly  delighted  at  getting  a  cotton  shirt  and  gun  of  theii- 
own,  will  gladly  surrender  themselves  to  slavery,  attracted 
moreover  by  the  hope  of  finding  better  food  in  the  Seribas 
than  their  own  native  wildernesses  can  produce.  The  mere 
offer  of  these  simple  inducements  in  any  part  of  the  Niam- 
niam  lands  would  be  sufficient  to  gather  a  whole  host  of 
followers   and  vassals,   and   during    our  journey    I    myself 


422  THE  HEART  OF  AFRICA. 

received  proposals  to  join  our  band  from  young  people  in  all 
parts  of  the  country.  I  mention  this  circumstance  just  to 
illustrate  my  opinion  of  how  easily  the  Egyptian  Grovernment 
might,  without  using  any  compulsion,  enlist  here  as  many 
soldiers  as  it  required.  I  am  persuaded  that,  without  any 
difficulty,  whole  regiments  of  Nizzam  troops  might  be  raised 
from  amongst  the  Niam-niam  in  the  course  of  comparatively 
a  very  few  days. 

3.  The  third  class  of  private  slaves  is  formed  of  the  women 
who  are  kept  in  the  houses.  Every  soldier  has  one  of  these 
slaves,  and  sometimes  more,  in  which  case  one  is  advanced  to 
the  position  of  favourite,  whilst  the  rest  are  employed  in  the 
ordinary  routine  of  preparing  meal,  or  in  the  tedious  process 
of  baking  kissere.  These  women  are  passed  like  dollars 
from  hand  to  hand,  a  proceeding  which  is  a  prolific  source 
of  the  rapid  spread  of  those  loathsome  disorders  by  which 
the  lands  within  the  jurisdiction  of  the-Seribas  have  been 
infested  ever  since  their  subjugation  by  the  Khartoomers. 
In  accordance  with  the  universal  rule  in  the  Mohammedan 
Soudan,  the  children  of  a  slave  are  reared  as  legitimate,  and 
the  mother  receives  the  title  of  wife.  The  daily  conversation 
of  the  Nubian  mercenaries  is  a  continual  proof  that  their 
thoughts  are  always  running  on  their  slaves  both  male  and 
female.  If  a  quarrel  arises  amongst  a  group  of  people,  one 
is  certain  to  be  correct  in  surmising  that  some  slave  or 
other  is  being  reclaimed  or  the  payment  due  for  her  is  being 
demanded  ;  or  if  there  is  a  sudden  uproar,  the  burden  of  the 
cry  is  sure  to  be,  "  A  slave  has  run  away ! "  "  Kummarah 
oUoroh,"  shout  the  Bongo,  and  "  Ollomollo,  ollomollo," 
resounds  from  every  side.  Many  and  many  a  time  have  1 
been  roused  from  my  slumbers  in  the  early  morning  by  such 
cries  as  these,  and  it  is  one  of  the  occupations  of  the  Seriba 
people  and  their  negroes  to  hunt  down  and  recapture  these 
rimaway  women.  Hunger  often  obliges  the  fugitives  to 
take  refuge  in  a  strange  Seriba ;  here  they  are  looked  upon 


HOUSEHOLD  DRUDGES.  423 

as  lucky  windfalls,  and  are  either  seized  by  force  or  are' 
quietly  disposed  of  to  the  itinerant  Gellahbas ;  and  if  the 
rightful  owner  subsequently  appears  to  claim  his  property,  a 
violent  squabble  will  inevitably  be  the  result.  These  slaves 
are  thus  the  subject  of  one  incessant  wrangling;  and  if  a 
slave  absent  herself  only  temporarily  without  the  consent  of 
her  master,  she  will  at  once  excite  his  jealousy,  displeasure, 
and  mistrust. 

The  single  slave  of  the  poorer  soldiers  is  a  regular  drudge, 
or  maid-of-all  work :  she  has  to  bring  water  from  the  well  in 
great  pitchers,  which  she  carries  on  her  head ;  she  does  all 
the  washing,  if  there  is  anything  to  wash ;  she  grinds  the 
corn  upon  the  murhaga,  makes  the  dough,  roasts  the  kissere 
on  the  doka,  and  finally  prepares  the  melah,  a  horrible 
greasy  concoction  of  water,  sesame-oil  or  pounded  sesame, 
bamia-pods,  and  corchorus  leaves,  beautifully  seasoned  with 
cayenne  pepper  and  alkali.  Not  only  has  she  to  do  the 
sweeping  of  the  whole  house,  but  she  has  to  get  wood  from 
the  wilderness,  and,  when  on  a  journey,  to  supply  the  want  of 
any  other  bearer  by  carrying  all  the  lumber  of  her  lord 
and  master.  In  <,he  larger  households,  however,  of  the 
more  important  people,  such  as  controllers  or  agents,  where 
slaves  are  numerous,  each  woman  has  her  own  allotted  task, 
and  a  large  number  of  boys  is  employed,  who  follow  their 
master  on  his  travels,  each  carrying  a  single  weapon,  either  a 
gun,  a  pistol,  or  a  sword.  From  all  this  some  little  idea  may 
be  gained  of  the  unwieldy  crowd  that  must  necessarily  be 
attached  to  every  march  undertaken  by  the  Nubian  mer- 
cenaries. To  a  force  of  200  soldiers  on  our  Niam-niam 
expedition  there  were  as  many  as  300  women  and  boys;  a 
party  which,  as  well  as  immoderately  increasing  the  length 
of  the  procession,  by  the  clatter  of  their  cooking  utensils- 
and  their  everlasting  wrangling  (scenes  of  which  I  have 
already  given  some  illustration),  kept  up  a  perpetual  turmoil 
which  at  times  threatened  a  hopeless  confusion. 


424 


THE  HEART  OF  AFRICA. 


.  The  rude  and  primitive  manner  of  grinding  corn  employed 
throughout  the  Mohammedan  Soudan  contributes  more  than 
may  at  first  sight  seem  credible  to  perpetuate  the  immense 
demand  for  female  slave  labour.  The  very  laborious  process 
is  performed  by  pounding  tke  grain  on  a  large  stone,  called 
murhaga,  by  means  of  a  smaller  stone  held  in  the  hand ;  it 
is  the  only  method  of  grinding  corn  known  to  the  majority 
of  African  nations,  and  is  so  slow  that  by  the  hardest  day's 
work  a  woman  is  able  to  prepare  only  a  sufficient  quantity  of 


Slave  at  work. 


meal  for  five  or  six  men.*  A  mill  worked  by  oxen  has  been 
erected  by  the  Government  in  Khartoom,  not  only  for  the 
use  of  the  troops,  but  also  to  enable  private  individuals  to 
have  their  corn  ground  at  a  moderate  price ;  but  in  spite  of 
this  provision  the  durra-corn  is  still  pounded  on  the  murhaga 


*  The  apcompanying  illustration  represents  one  of  the  daily  scenes  in  my 
travelling  life,  and  may  serve  to  give  an  idea  how  slavery  degrades  a  woman 
almost  to  a  level  with  the  brutes.  A  newly-captured  slave,  with  the  heavy 
yoke  of  the  sheyba  fastened  to  her  neck,  has  been  sentenced  to  work  at  the 
murhaga,  whilst  a  boy,  who  has  been  placed  as  a  spy  to  keep  a  constant  watch 
upon  lier  conduct,  holds  np  the  yoke  in  order  that  it  should  not  interfere  with 
the  freedom  of  her  movements. 


SLAVES  EMPLOYED  IN  AGKICULTUKE.  425 

in  all  the  houses;  not  a  single  resident  takes  advantage  of  the 
improved  facility  that  is  oEfered.  Until  this  lavish  waste  of 
human  strength  is  suppressed,  either  by  the  introduction  of 
mechanical  handmills  or  by  putting  a  tax  upon  the  mur- 
haga,  no  hope  is  to  be  entertained  of  any  diminution  in  the 
demand  for  female  slaves.  This  is  but  one  instance,  yet  it 
may  suffice  to  show  how  gradually  and  consistently  one 
must  set  to  work  ultimately  to  gain  the  suppression  of 
slavery  in  the  Soudan :  nowhere  can  old  institutions  be 
declared  to  be  abolished,  until  new  institutions  have  been 
provided  to  take  their  place. 

4.  In  my  fourth  and  last  category  I  would  include  all 
slaves  of  both  sexes  who  are  employed  exclusively  in  hus- 
bandry. Only  the  men  in  more  important  situations,  such 
as  the  controllers  of  the  Seribas,  the  clerks,  the  dragomen 
(generally  natives  who  have  been  brought  up  like  Arabs  in 
Khartoom),  the  Eakis,  and  the  colonised  Gellahbas  actually 
cultivate  the  soil  and  possess  cattle ;  the  poorer  people  being 
content  with  a  little  occasional  gardening  and  the  possession 
of  a  few  goats  and  fowls.  Old  women,  who  are  too  weak  for 
anything  else,  are  employed  to  weed  the  fields,  and  at  harvest 
time  the  Farookh  are  called  to  their  assistance.  Statute 
labour  as  applied  to  agriculture  is  nowhere  demanded  of 
the  natives,  although  it  w'ould  really  act  less  disadvan- 
tageously  on  the  condition  of  the  population  than  the  arbi- 
trary system  that  allows  any  controller  of  a  Seriba  to  seize 
the  children  from  the  native  villages  and  dispose  of  them 
to  the  Gellahbas,  a  proceeding  that  is  generally  carried  out 
as  a  punishment  for  offences  like  dishonesty,  treachery,  or 
attempts  to  abscond. 

The  remote  position  of  the  Seribas  places  the  controllers 
far  beyond  any  authority,  and  makes  them  quite  indepen- 
dent of  the  jurisdiction  of  the  chiefs  of  the  trading-firms, 
who  are  most  of  them  settled  in  Khartoom  without  much 
care  for  either  their  own  advantage  or  for  that  of  the  conn- 


426  THE  HBAET  OF  AFRICA. 

try  ;  it  thus  becomes  necessary  to  appoiut  trustworthy  people 
to  the  post,  and  consequently  the  head-controllers  are  in 
many  cases  slaves  who  have  been  reared  in  their  master's 
house.  A  controller  has  every  opportunity  if  he  pleases  of 
coming  to  an  arrangement  with  the  soldiers  and  other  officials, 
and  in  concert  with  them  of  acting  very  much  to  his  chief's 
disadvantage ;  or  he  might  sell  the  negroes  on  his  territories 
to  the  Gellahbas,  turn  the  proceeds  into  copper,  and  retire  as 
a  rich  man  to  Darfoor,  already  a  place  of  refuge  for  many 
delinquents  from  the  Egyptian  Soudan. 

The  sub-controllers  and  agents  in  the  subsidiary  Seribas 
are,  on  the  other  hand,  far  less  trustworthy ;  their  position  is 
often  held  only  for  a  temporary  period,  and  consequently 
their  interests  are  not  so  firmly  bound  up  with  those  of  their 
chiefs  as  those  of  his  former  slaves.  Then,  too,  the  smaller 
Seribas  are  often  so  far  apart  that  the  Vokeel  can  transact 
all  their  business  without  any  supervision  from  the  head 
controller ;  all  this  is  well  known  to  the  itinerant  slave-dealers, 
who  have  a  special  preference  for  visiting  these  minor  settle- 
ments, because  they  are  aware  that  they  can  there  buy  up 
numbers  of  boys  and  girls,  disregardful  of  the  fact  that,  as 
future  bearers  and  agricultural  labourers,  the  children  are 
vassals  belonging  to  the  soil,  and  form  part  and  parcel  of  the 
property  of  the  head  of  the  firm. 

After  thus  considering  slave-labour  in  its  separate  branches, 
and  gaining  some  idea  of  the  immense  and  wasteful  expendi- 
ture of  human  energy  that  goes  on  in  the  Seribas  of  the 
Khartoomers,  we  may  turn  our  attention  to  the  numerical 
proportion  of  the  foreign  settlers  (with  whom  must  be  in- 
cluded their  private  slaves)  to  the  actual  aboriginal  popu- 
lation. The  following  table  is  founded  upon  a  careful 
calculation;  the  results  are  given  in  round  numbers,  as 
fuller  details  would  demand  more  space  than  could  be 
afforded  here. 


OONSUMEKS  AND  PRODUCERS.  427 

Proportions  of  the  Population  in  the  District  of  the  Khar- 
TOOMERs'  Seeibas  on  the  Bahr-el-Ghazal. 

Consumers. 

Nubian  soldiers,  recruited  in  Khartoom  and  consisting  of  natives  of 

Dongola,  Sheygieh,  Sennaar,  Kordofau,  various  Bedouins,  &c.  . .         5,000 

Black  slave  troops  (Farookh)  *  . .  . .  . .  . .        5,000 

Fellow-boarders  with  the  Nubian  idlers  from  the  Soudan,  living  here 

in  order  to  procure  corn  cheaply  and  without  any  trouble  . .        1,000 

Gellahbas    settled    in   Dar  Ferteet,    and  agents    in    the  Seribas, 

Fakis,  &c 2,000 

Itinerant  Gellahbas,  who  enter  the  country  in  the  winter        ..  ..      2,000 

Private  slaves  belonging  to  the  colonised  Mohammedan  population  . .    40.000 


Total     . .    55,000 

Produceks. 
Bongo  100,000 


&c.) 30,000 

10,000 

6,000 

4,000 

20,000 


Mittoo  (including  Loobah,  Madi 

Dyoor 

Golo  

Sehre 

Kredy 

Small  tribes  of  natives  belonging  to  the  immediate  environs  of  the 

Seribas,  such  as  the  Dembo,  Bimberry,  Manga,  &c.        . .         ■ .      20,000 

Total     ..    190.000 


In  the  next  place  let  us  turn  our  attention  to  those  slaves 
who  are  regarded  as  actual  merchandise,  and  who  are  dragged 
into  bondage  from  the  Upper  Nile  lands  solely  for  purposes 
of  profit.  In  order  to  demonstrate  how  important  at  the 
present  time  is  the  part  taken  by  the  district  of  the  Gazelle 
in  the  entire  African  slave-trade,  I  will  take  a  brief  survey 
of  the  sources  which  all  the  year  round  supply  the  endless 
succession  of  the  dealers  with  fresh  stores  of  living  wares, 


*  I  should  point  out  that  the  total  number  of  the  soldiers  maintained  in 
the  Bahr-el-Ghazal  district  by  the  twelve  great  mercantile  firms  in  Khartoom 
iimounts  to  11,000.     I  have  here  given  the  lowest  computation. 


428  THE  HEART  OF  AFRICA. 

and  which,  branching  off  into  three  great  highways  to  the 
north,  yield  up  their  very  life-blood  to  gratify  the  insatiable 
and  luxurious  demands  of  Egypt,  Arabia,  Persia,  and  Asiatic 
Turkey.  Previous  travellers  have  estimated  the  total  of  the 
annual  traflSc  in  this  immense  region  to  be  25,000,  but  I 
shall  show  by  a  very  summary  reckoning  that  this  is  far  too 
low  a  computation.  The  three  currents  for  the  slave-trade 
in  north-east  Africa  (a  region  corresponding  to  what  may 
be  geographically  termed  the  "  Nile  district ")  are  the  natural 
highways  of  the  Nile  and  the  Eed  Sea,  and  the  much  fre- 
quented caravan  roads  that,  traversing  the  deserts  at  no  great 
distance  to  the  west  of  the  Nile,  find  their  outlet  either  in 
Siout  or  near  Cairo.  As  a  proof  of  how  little  these  roads  even 
now  are  known,  I  may  mention  that  when,  in  the  summer  of 
1871,  a  caravan  with  2000  slaves  arrived  direct  from  Wadai, 
it  caused  quite  a  sensation  in  the  neighbourhood  of  the 
pyramids  of  Gizeh ;  it  was  supposed  to  have  traversed  a 
geographical  terra  incognita,  and  it  divided  and  dispersed 
itself  as  mysteriously  as  it  came.  It  is  far  more  difficult 
to  place  the  deserts  under  inspection  than  the  ocean,  and 
this  is  especially  the  case  in  the  vicinity  of  a  river,  where  a 
caravan  can  easily  supply  itself  with  water  for  many  days. 
The  borders  of  a  desert  are  like  the  coasts  of  an  unnavigable 
ocean.  The  plan,  however,  of  establishing  a  system  of  con- 
trol along  the  borders  of  the  Nile  Valley,  corresponding  to 
the  coastguard  cruisers  on  our  seas,  has  never  yet  been 
tried. 

The  following  are  the  territories  that  form  the  sources  of 
the  slave-trade  in  North-Eastern  Africa  (Nile  district)  : — 

1.  The  Galla  countries  to  the  south  of  Abyssinia,  between 
latitude  3°  and  8°  N.  The  outlets  from  them  are :  (a)  via 
Shoa  to  Zeyla;  (&)  via  Godyam  through  Abyssinia  to 
Matamma  and  Suakin,  or  to  Massowa  and  smaller  unguarded 
coast  towns;  (c)  via  Fazogl  to  Sennaar,  where  the  largest 
market  is  not  in,  but  above  Khartoom,   in  a  place  called 


SOURCES  OF  THE  SLAVE-TRADE.  429 

Mussalemia  ;  the  merchandise  brought  by  this  route  is 
abundant  and  valuable.  According  to  the  reports  of  the 
Abyssinian  collectors  of  customs  the  number  of  slaves  in 
Matamma  (G-allabat)  amounted  in  1865  alone  to  18,000. 

2.  The  second  source  is  found  amongst  the  Berta  negroes 
above  Fazogl,  and  amongst  the  Dinka  above  Sennaar,  between 
the  White  and  Blue  Niles.  These  are  likewise  carried  to 
Mussalemia  and  Khartoom,  but  in  no  considerable  numbers. 

3.  The  Agow,  in  the  heart  of  Abyssinia  between  Tigre  and 
Amhara,  together  with  the  people  on  the  north-west  frontier 
of  the  Abyssinian  highland,  are  also  exposed  to  plunder  of 
the  persons  of  their,  sons,  on  account  of  their  disorganised 
condition  and  their  position  on  the  wild  border-land.  The 
channel  for  their  dispersion  is  across  the  Red  Sea  to  Djidda. 

4.  The  upper  district  of  the  White  Nile,  inclusive  of  the 
Albert  and  Victoria  Lakes,  though  the  slave-trade  really 
begins  at  latitude  5°  N.  The  expedition  of  Sir  Samuel  Baker 
has  stopped  this  source.  The  annual  produce  in  the  most 
favourable  years  did  not  exceed  1000. 

5.  The  supply  of  slaves  in  the  upper  district  of  the  Bahr- 
el-Ghazal  is  chiefly  derived  from  the  Bongo,  Mittoo,  and 
Babuckur.  For  the  last  twelve  years  the  Gazelle  has  never 
been  navigated  by  more  than  twenty  boats.  On  their  return 
journeys  the  soldiers  of  the  ivory  merchants  carry  their  own 
slaves  with  them  as  payment  and  perquisites ;  but  it  is  very 
rare  for  a  boat  to  carry  more  than  twenty  or  thirty  of  these 
slaves,  so  that  the  annual  transport  of  slaves  to  Khartoom 
by  this  route  never  exceeded  from  400  to  600.  This  fact 
is  perfectly  authentic,  and  thus  it  may  be  seen  that  even 
before  Sir  Samuel  Baker's  expedition  put  a  stop  to  it 
altogether,  the  slave-trade  that  was  carried  on  down  the 
river  was  quite  insignificant  compared  to  the  overland  traffic. 
For  years  thepe  has  been  a  public  prohibition  against  bringing 
slaves  down  tfie  White  Nile  into  Khartoom,  and  ever  and 
again   stronger  repressive  measures  have  been  introduced, 


430  THE  HEART  OF  AFRICA. 

which,  liowever,  have  only  had  the  effect  of  raising  the  land 
traffic  to  a  premium ;  but  as  a  general  rule  the  Egyptian 
officials  connive  at  the  use  of  this  comparatively  unimportant 
channel  of  the  trade,  and  pocket  a  quiet  little  revenue  for 
themselves  by  demanding  a  sum  varying  from  two  to  five 
dollars  a  head  as  hush-money.  This  expense,  together  with 
the  continual  risk  of  the  property  being  confiscated  in 
Khartoom,  has  always  prevented  the  river  trade  from  reach- 
ing a  very  flourishing  condition ;  at  all  events,  the  Egyptian 
Government  has  hitherto  had  the  best  of  it.  Consuls  from 
England,  France,  Germany,  and  Austria  have  been,  and  are 
still  in  residence  at  Khartoom,  and  a  Copt  was  also  tem- 
porarily appointed  as  consular  agent  for  America;  it  was 
therefore  an  easy  matter  for  the  Egyptian  officials  to  feign 
in  the  eyes  of  the  world  at  large  a  wonderful  amount  of  zeal 
and  energy  in  the  suppression  of  the  slave-trade,  especially 
as  every  confiscation  threw  the  whole  cargo  into  their  hands ; 
for  the  slaves  were  never  sent  back  into  their  native  lands, 
but  the  full-grown  men  were  turned  into  soldiers,  whilst  the 
young  girls  and  boys  were  divided  at  discretion  amongst 
the  troops  of  the  garrison.  In  these  transactions  a  formidable 
bond  was  always  entered  into  by  the  receiver,  from  whom  the 
former  owner  was  at  liberty  at  any  time  to  re-purchase 
the  slave. 

6.  As  we  have  already  seen,  the  great  source  of  the  slave- 
trade  is  to  be  found  in  the  negro-countries  to  the  south  of 
Darfoor,  which  are  included  under  the  name  of  Dar  Ferteet. 
The  natives,  who  for  the  last  forty  years  have  been  exposed 
to  the  rapacity  of  the  slave-dealers,  and  have  been  annually 
exported  to  the  number  of  from  12,000  to  15,000  souls, 
belong  to  the  Kredy  tribes ;  but  the  great  bulk  of  the  slaves 
come  from  the  western  Niam-niam  territories,  where  the 
powerful  King  Mofio  (whose  residence  is  about  under  latitude 
7°  N.  and  longitude  24°  E.)  carries  off  on  his  own  account, 
from  the  neighbouring  nations  who  are  not  Niam-niam,  large 


CAEAVAN  ROADS.  431 

numbers  of  slaves,  and  sells  them  to  the  Gellahbas,  by  whom 
they  are  conveyed  by  the  overland  routes  already  mentioned 
across  Kordofan  to  Aboo  Harras  in  the  Egyptian  dominions. 
There  are  other  routes  that  lead  direct  to  Darfoor,  whence 
caravans  start  twice  a  year  to  Siout.  Kordofan  is  in  many 
ways  in  direct  communication  with  the  most  important 
markets  of  the  slave  trade ;  the  following  being  the  most 
frequented  caravan  roads :  {a)  from  Aboo  Harras  to  Khartoom 
via  El-Obeid;  (b)  from  Aboo  Harras  eastwards  to  Mussa- 
lemia  through  Sennaar;  (c)  from  Aboo  Harras  across  the 
Begudah  steppes  to  Dongola  via  El-Safy ;  {d)  from  Aboo 
Harras  to  Berber  along  the  Nile,  for  the  purpose  either  of 
crossing  the  great  Nubian  Desert  or  of  keeping  farther  to 
the  east  across  the  Red  Sea.  All  these  routes  are  associated 
to  me  by  the  many  reminiscences  of  slave-transport  which 
I  recall  as  having  myself  witnessed  there. 

7.  A  final  and  by  no  means  unimportant  source  of  the 
slave-trade  is  found  in  the  mountain  lands  south  of  Kordofan. 
The  general  term  for  the  negroes  of  these  parts  is  Nooba,* 
a  people  that  are  much  in  demand  on  account  of  their  beauty 
and  intelligence.  It  was  in  these  Nooba  mountains  that,  after 
his  bloody  conquest  of  Kordofan,  Mehemet  Ali,  the  great 
reformer  and  usurper  in  Egypt,  allowed  kidnapping  to  be 
a  legitimate  source  for  the  State  revenue.  From  the  slaves 
thus  obtained  he  formed  black  regiments,  by  means  of  which 
he  was  to  subdue  the  insalubrious  Soudan,  and  paid  his 
officers  and  subordinates  with  a  portion  of  the  plunder.! 

As  the  Egyptian  Government  itself  was  the  first  to  teach 
its  subjects  to  kidnap  slaves,  it  behoves  it  now  in  these  more 
humane  times  to  make  amends  for  all  its  past  delinquencies, 


*  This  word  must  not  be  confounded  with  Nubian,  a  word  which  has  come 
down  from  antiquity,  and  which,  like  the  term  Egypt,  did  not  originally 
apply  to  the  inhabitants  of  the  Nile  Valley. 

t  If  this  account  of  slave  capture  in  the  time  of  Mehemet  Ali  should 
appear  incredible,  I  would  refer  the  reader  to  a  book  that  contains  the 
narrative  of  an  eye-witness  :  Pallme,  '  Travels  in  Kordofan,'  London,  1844. 


432  THE  HEAKT  OF  AFKICA. 

aud  I  most  cordially  acknowledge  that  the  present  ruler, 
with  all  the  resources  at  his  command,  is  striving  most 
honourably  to  accomplish  the  task. 

Slavery,  with  its  inseparable  adjunct  the  slave-trade,  is 
almost  as  old  as  the  world  in  which  we  dwell ;  there  is  not 
a  page  of  history  that  does  not  bear  its  traces,  and  not  a 
climate  nor  a  people  in  which  it  has  not  made  good  its  hold. 
An  impartial  survey  of  the  past  cannot  but  convince  us  that 
religious  institutions  have  effected  little  or  nothing  in  the 
cause  of  humanity,  which  has  been  left  to  take  its  own  course 
of  development.  At  the  present  day  slavery  is  considered 
incompatible  with  Christian  doctrine,  but  the  history  of 
ancient  Christianity  shows  a  different  picture.*  The  oldest 
Fathers  of  the  Church  seem  to  have  had  no  conception  of 
there  being  anything  wrong  in  possessing  or  selling  slaves ; 
for  although  Christianity  inculcated  the  precepts  of  brotherly 
love,  it  also  set  forth  the  duty  of  slaves  as  slaves,  rendering 
obedience  and  submission  to  those  who  were  their  masters. 
JJut  the  light  that  rose  over  Galilee  emanated  from  a  spirit 
so  sublime  that  it  has  taken  eighteen  centuries  to  accomplish 
its  course  of  penetrating  the  world,  and  only  now  is  beginning 
to  reveal  itself  in  its  true  purity. 

But  nowhere  in  the  world  has  slavery  been  so  thoroughly 
engrafted  and  so  widely  disseminated  as  in  Afi-ica;  the 
earliest  mariners  who  circumnavigated  its  coasts  found  a 
system  of  kidnapping  everywhere  established  on  a  firm  basis, 
and  extending  in  its  business  relations  far  into  the  interior 
of  the  continent;  the  idea  arose  how  advantageously  the 
owners  of  land  in  the  distant  East  might  cull  the  costly 
products  of  their  soil  by  the  hands  of  slaves  ;  and  the  kernel 
of  a  single  plant,  the  coffee  berry,  became  the  means  of 
uniting  the  remotest  lands,  and  had  the  effect  of  throwing 


*  Under  the  most  Christian-minded  Popes  of  the  eighth  century,  slave- 
markets  and  the  slave-ti-ade  flourished  unhindered,  not  only  in  Italy  but  in 
Rome  itself. 


ABOLITION  OF  THE  SLAVE-TRADE.  433 

a  large  portion  of  the  human  race  into  subjection  to  their 
fellows,  whilst  Christian  nations  became  the  patrons  and  the 
propagators  of  the  disgraceful  traffic.  It  has  therefore 
happened  in  the  natural  course  of  things  that  philanthropists 
have  first  applied  their  energies  to  the  slave-trade  in  the 
West ;  the  East  has  still  to  tarry  for  an  enlightenment  which 
is  destined  in  the  fulness  of  time  to  gladden  a  future  chapter 
of  history. 

Half  the  task  is  now  accomplished.  Two  great  nations 
have  speeded  on  the  work:  England  in  theory,  North 
America  in  practice.  For  scores  of  years  the  ships  of  Great 
Britain  cruised  about  the  shores  of  Africa  for  the  purpose  of 
stopping  the  export  of  slaves ;  but  although  the  outlay  was 
great,  the  result  was  small ;  nevertheless  a  path  was  broken 
for  the  realisation  of  the  ideas  of  Wilberforce,  for  whose 
noble  endeavours  the  best  sympathies  of  all  nations  had  so 
long  and  ardently  been  enlisted.  Finally  the  civil  war 
broke  out  in  North  America,  and  great  and  glorious  as  had 
been  the  services  rendered  by  England  in  the  cause  of 
humanity,  honour  greater  and  more  glorious  still  was  won 
in  long  and  bloody  strife  by  her  brethren  beyond  the  ocean. 
Now  the  black  man  has  free  footing  in  all  parts  of  the 
Western  Continent ;  and  in  the  Eastern,  the  seed  of  liberty, 
sown  scarcely  ten  years  back,  is  already  bearing  its  first  fruit 
on  African  soil ;  the  export  of  slaves  from  the  coasts  of 
Guinea,  which  in  the  middle  of  the  last  century  amounted 
to  100,000  annually,  exists  no  longer,  and  the  shores  are 
enlivened  by  populous  towns,  the  inhabitants  of  which  are 
engaged  in  peaceful  traffic ;  all  the  work  of  a  few  years,  and 
all  owing  to  the  happy  termination  of  the  American  civil 
war.* 

*  1  would  refer  especially  to  the  district  of  Lagos,  where  the  advance  has 
been  rapid  to  a  degree  hitherto  unheard  of  in  the  history  of  the  continent. 
In  1871  the  entire  commerce  of  the  British  possessions  on  the  West  Coast 
amounted  to  2,556,O0OZ.,  and  may  at  the  present  time  be  estimated  at  3,000,OOC 
sterling. 


434  THE  HEAET  OF  AFKICA. 

Our  af^e  is  now  anxiously  awaiting  the  fulfilment  of  the 
great  work,  but  the  other  half  of  the  task  has  still  to  be 
accomplished;  the  dark  cloud  of  barbarism  still  lowers  over 
the  innermost  regions  of  Africa,  and  Egypt,  the  oldest  and 
richest  land  of  the  historical  world,  has  its  mission  to  per- 
form. A  great  revolution  has  already  begun,  and  although 
at  present  it  affects  only  the  surface,  there  is  scarcely  any 
reason  to  doubt  that  progress,  alike  spiritual  and  humane, 
will  ultimately  claim  the  victory.  But  the  task  is  gigantic, 
and  no  one  can  be  more  sensible  of  this  than  the  traveller 
who  has  lingered  at  any  of  the  sources  of  the  slave-trade. 
One  point  there  is  in  which  all  are  unanimous — that  from 
Islamism  no  help  can  be  expected,  and  that  with  Islamism 
no  compact  can  be  made.  The  second  Sura  of  the  Koran 
begins  with  the  prescription :  "  To  open  the  way  of  God,  slay 
all  those  who  would  slay  you;  but  be  not  yourselves  the 
first  to  commence  hostilities,  for  God  loves  not  sinners  ;  slay 
them  wherever  you  meet  them ;  drive  them  away  from  the 
spot  from  which  they  would  drive  you,  for  temptation  is 
worse  than  a  death-blow."  Islamism,  the  child  of  the  deserts, 
has  everywhere  spread  desolation,  and  wherever  it  has  pene- 
trated, deserts  have  arisen  bleak  and  bare  as  the  rocks  of 
Nubia  and  Arabia,  and  under  its  influence  every  nation  from 
Morocco  to  the  Isles  of  Sunda  has  congealed  into  a  homo- 
geneous mass ;  inexorably  it  brings  all  to  one  level,  remorse- 
lessly obliterating  all  traces  of  nationality  or  race. 

That  Islamism  is  capable  of  progress  is  merely  a  supposi- 
tion that  has  been  hatched  up  from  books,  and  has  no  foun- 
dation ;  there  is  likewise  nothing  to  prove  that  it  has  fallen 
to  decay ;  its  condition  appears  to  be  that  of  one  perpetual 
childhood.  Its  votaries  are  like  the  germs  of  vegetation  that 
slumber  in  the  sands  of  desert  valleys ;  a  drop  of  rain,  a 
mere  nothing,  may  call  them  to  a  transitory  life ;  the  plants 
bear  their  flowers,  produce  their  fruit,  then  die  away,  and  all 
becomes  once  more  buried  in  a  long  deep  sleep. 


•  EGYPTIAN  APATHY.  435 

Another  question  then  arises  as  to  whether  Mohammedans 
might  be  roused  to  civilisation  by  adopting  Christianity.  If 
a  European  residing  in  Egypt  were  asked  whether  it  would 
be  possible  ibr  the  people  to  adopt  European  customs  with- 
out forsaking  Mohammedanism,  he  would  at  once  answer  in 
the  negative  ;  and  if  he  were  further  pressed  with  the  inquiry 
whether  there  was  any  prospect  of  the  religion  ever  changing, 
his  reply  would  again  be  that  there  is  not  the  remotest  hope 
of  such  an  issue.  And  this  opinion  would  seem  to  be  borne 
out  by  what  has  been  experienced  in  Algiers,  where  the 
gentle  administration  of  the  French  Government,  with  its 
"  Bureaux  Arabes,"  has  always  prevented  the  colony  from 
becoming  rich  and  populated  by  Europeans.  The  European 
costume  is  the  only  one  of  our  civilised  institutions  that 
has  hitherto  been  adopted  in  Egypt,  but  underneath  this 
external  garb  there,  still  lurks  the  old  feeling  of  hatred  for 
the  Franks,  a  feeling  which  is  perceptible  only  to  those  who 
penetrate  into  their  domestic  circles. 

But  whether  Egyptian  officials  wear  an  Oriental  dress  or 
a  European  dress,  their  ideas  about  slavery  and  the  slave- 
trade  are  stereotyped ;  it  is  the  fashion  in  good  society  to 
have  a  house  full  of  slaves,  and  their  presence  is  considered 
indispensable.  Now  if  a  man  were  to  keep  two,  or  even 
three,  properly  paid  servants,  and  see  that  they  did  their 
duty  with  order  and  punctuality,  he  would  be  making  some 
advance  in  civilisation :  but  now,  what  is  the  impression  on 
entering  the  homes  of  the  rich  Egyptians  ?  There,  comfort- 
ably settled  on  the  divan,  sits  the  master  of  the  house,  silent 
and  contemplative,  a  man  of  peace  and  quietness  ;  nothing 
seems  to  disturb  his  composure ;  all  the  nobler  passions  are 
quite  alien  to  his  nature  ;  hunting  and  fishing,  riding  and 
boating,  are  quite  unknown  to  him,  and  he  never  puts  himself 
to  the  trouble  of  taking  a  walk.  If  he  is  thirsty,  he  has 
only  to  raise  his  hand  and  say,  "  Ya,  wolled  "  (here,  fellow !) 
and  in  an  instant  his  slave  hands  him  a  glass  of  water ;  oi- 

Vol.  II.— 30 


436  THE  HEAKT  OF  AFRICA. 

if  he  wants  to  smoke  or  to  go  to  sleep,  it  is  "  Ya,  wolled  "  just 
the  same :  everything  is  done  for  him,  and  he  does  not  stir 
an  inch  to  help  himself.  Now  supposing  some  fine  day 
all  these  "  wolleds  "  were  to  take  themselves  off,  what  would 
befall  these  fine  gentlemen  on  their  divans,  and  where  would 
they  turn  for  all  the  trifling  comforts  of  their  daily  life  ^ 
Their  sluggish  nature  would  be  invaded  by  a  feeling  of  dis- 
quietude that  they  had  never  felt  before ;  they  must  either 
die  or  become  new  creatures.  This  description,  which 
applies  to  every  rank  of  life,  is  only  a  reflection  of  the 
lethargic  apathy  that  prevails  in  every  Oriental  State ;  an 
inference  necessarily  follows  that  of  equal  importance  with 
the  abolition  of  slavery  is  the  dawn  of  a  new  life  in  the  East. 
If  this  regeneration  .is  impossible,  then  slavery  is  a  per- 
manent necessity. 

The  kind  treatment  of  slaves,  and  the  comfortable  lot  that 
they  enjoy,  in  comparison  to  the  hardships  of  their  rude, 
rough  homes,  are  pleas  that  have  often  been  urged  in  ex- 
tenuation of  slavery  in  the  East.  It  is  certainly  true  that 
the  contrast  in  slave-labour  is  very  great,  and  whilst  Euro- 
peans have  looked  upon  their  slaves  as  little  better  than 
useful  domestic  animals,  the  Oriental  slave  is  a  mere  object 
of  luxury.  Only  a  small  proportion  of  the  slaves  that  are 
brought  annually  from  the  interior  are  employed  in  field- 
labour  in  Egypt,  though  rather  more  frequently  in  the 
Nubian  provinces.  The  European,  although  he  deprived 
the  negro  of  his  ordinary  rights,  still  compelled  him  to 
become  a  useful  member  of  society ;  the  Oriental  allows 
him  a  portion  of  his  rights,  but  trains  him  up  to  general 
incapacity  ;  the  occupations  of  filling  pipes,  handing  water, 
boiling  coffee,  and  holding  a  salver,  are  not  employments 
worthy  of  a  man.  Slavery  in  the  East,  in  spite  of  its  good 
living  and  fine  clothes,  is  not  at  the  best  a  very  enviable  posi- 
tion ;  but  such  as  it  is,  it  is  purchased  by  these  poor  creatures 
at  a  heavy  price  ;  they  have  to  submit  to  a  long  and  painful 


DEPOPULATION  OF  AFRICA.  437 

journey  across  the  deserts ;  they  have  to  suffer  the  extremest 
hunger  and  fatigue,  and  to  be  exposed  to  the  contagion  of 
disorders,  such  as  their  fresh  blood,  pure  with  the  simplicity 
of  a  life  of  nature,  is  especially  liable  to  imbibe,  and  alto- 
gether they  are  doomed  to  be  subject  to  hardships  so  severe 
as  to  decimate  their  ranks. 

But  the  worst  feature  in  the  case  is  the  depopulation  of 
Africa.  I  have  myseK  seen  whole  tracts  of  country  in  Dar 
Ferteet  turned  into  barren,  uninhabited  wildernesses,  simply 
'because  all  the  young  girls  have  been  carried  out  of  the 
country.  Turks  and  Arabs  will  urge  that  they  are  only 
drawing  off  useless  blood,  that  if  these  people  are  allowed 
to  increase  and  multiply,  they  will  only  turn  round  and  kill 
one  another.  But  the  truth  is  far  otherwise.  The  time  has 
come  when  the  vast  continent  of  Africa  can  no  longer  be 
dispensed  with;  it  must  take  its  share  in  the  commerce  of 
the  world,  and  this  cannot  be  effected  until  slavery  is 
abolished.  Sooner  than  the  natives  should  be  exterminated, 
I  would  see  all  Turks,  Arabs,  or  whatever  else  these  apathetic 
nations  may  be  called,  vanish  from  the  face  of  the  earth ; 
they  are  only  occupying  the  place  of  their  betters ;  and 
negroes,  if  they  only  work,  are  their  betters. 

I  travelled  in  the  Nile  countries  from  1863  to  1866,  and 
again  from  1868  to  1871  ;  on  my  first  journey  I  visited  all 
the  great  markets  of  the  slave-trade,  Cairo,  Siout,  Djiddah, 
Suakin,  Matamma  in  Gallabat,  Khartoom,  and  Berber ;  in 
my  second  I  reached  its  sources  in  the  lands  to  the  south  of 
Darfoor  and  Kordofan.  Throughout  my  wanderings  I  was 
ever  puzzling  out  schemes  for  setting  bounds  to  this  inhuman 
traffic.  The  traveller  in  these  lands  is  kept  in  one  perpetual 
state  of  irritation  by  what  he  sees ;  on  every  road  he  meets 
long  troops  of  slaves ;  on  the  sea  and  round  the  coasts  he 
comes  in  contact  with  Arab  boats  crammed  full  of  the  same 
miserable  cr.^atures. 

Whilst  exploring  the  coasts  of  Nubia  and  Egypt  in  1864 


438  THE  HEART  OF  AFRICA. 

and  1865, 1  spent  eight  months  on  the  Red  Sea.  The  slave- 
trade  there  was  then  in  a  flourishing  condition,  but  the 
accounts  *  of  what  I  saw  attracted  no  more  attention  than 
the  complaints  made  by  my  predecessors.  The  consuls  in 
Djiddah  and  other  ports  on  the  Bed  Sea  were  afraid  to  take 
any  measures  that  were  not  sanctioned  by  European  policy, 
and  consequently  Arabs  were  allowed  to  carry  on  that  which 
amongst  Spaniards  and  Portuguese  would  have  been  considered 
piracy.  Not  a  man-of-war  was  to  be  seen  cruising  on  the 
water,  and  yet  one  single  gunboat  would  have  sufficed  to 
keep  a  check  upon  the  intercourse  between  the  opposite 
coasts,  and  to  make  the  slave-trade  an  impossibility.  A 
change  has  now  been  effected,  and  all  the  Powers  that  are 
interested  in  the  matter  have  done  their  utmost  to  remedy 
the  evil ;  but  even  on  the  Red  Sea  there  still  remains  much 
to  be  done,  and  even  now  there  are  far  too  many  secret 
landing-places  and  loopholes  which  escape  the  vigilance  of 
the  authorities. 

Many  a  time,  under  the  consciousness  that  alone  I  was 
utterly  powerless  as  a  vindicator  of  humanity,  I  have  re- 
strained myself  from  the  temptation  to  rescue  slaves  with 
my  own  hands.  Once,  between  Khartoom  and  Berber,  a  lot 
of  slaves  was  being  brought  from  Kordofan,  and  I  cut  in  two 
the  leather  thongs  that  bound  them  to  their  sheyba ;  but  an 
ugly  squabble  was  all  that  resulted  from  my  interference. 
At  other  times  I  have  vehemently  remonstrated  with  the 
slave-dealers,  when  I  have  been  a  witness  of  any  cruelty  in 
their  treatment  of  their  property;  but  all  to  no  purpose. 
It  may  therefore  be  imagined  that  a  traveller  in  his  fury 
and  disgust  will  be  led  to  devise  all  manner  of  schemes  for 
eradicating  the  system,  and  although,  when  weighed  in  a 
calmer  frame  of  mind,  many  of  his  plans  will  seem  chime- 


*  Detailed  accounts  appear  in  the  'Zeitschrift  fur   AUgem.  Erdkunde. 
Vol.  xviii.  186G. 


SUGGESTIONS  FOE  SUPPRESSING  THE  SLAVE-TRADE.  439 

rical  and  even  impracticable,  yet  it  may  be  that  uheir  very 
apparent  impracticability  at  least  proves  the  gravity  of  the 
situation,  and  shows  the  inadequacy  of  the  present  means  of 
suppression.  But  such  as  my  schemes  were,  I  will  venture 
to  indicate  them  here.  They  contain  no  shifts,  no  com- 
promise, no  expectatioii  of  better  times,  no  dependence  on 
Egyptian  officials,  not  even  a  hope  of  assistance  from  the 
Viceroy,  who,  however  good  his  intentions  may  be,  has  not 
the  power  to  do  much.  A  talent  for  organisation  is  not 
sufficient  to  rouse  whole  nations  from  their  apathy  ;  no  small 
hero  can  do  the  work,  but  it  would  require  a  powerful  re- 
former like  Peter  the  Great,  and  a  people  like  the  Eussians, 
or  the  Japanese  of  the  present  day,  who  would  easily  imbibe 
the  ideas  of  the  West.  I  beg  therefore  to  submit  the  follow- 
ing as  suggestions  towards  the  suppression  of  the  slave-trade ; 
they  embody  at  least  the  ideas  of  one  who  has  been  a  witness 
of  what  transpires  at  the  sources  of  the  slave-trade  in  Central 
Africa. 

1.  To  place  the  country  under  an  Administration  formed 
on  the  European  principle,  and  to  appoint  Europeans  to  fill 
the  highest  posts ;  the  French  have  officials  who  understand 
the  language,  and  the  English  have  their  experience  to  show 
them  how  Mohammedans  may  be  pressed  into  the  service  of 
a  well-regulated  State.  This  pl,an  would  please  the  fellaheen 
of  Egypt,  whilst  the  rest  of  the  people  would  be  indifferent 
to  it,  as  long  as  they  were  not  severely  taxed.* 

2.  To  appoint  commissioners  of  slaves,  who  should  travel 
about  the  provinces,  and  keep  watch  upon  all  the  highways 
of  the  slave-trade ;  they  should  be  invested  with  the  fullest 
authority,  and  rank  above  the  local  officials.  They  should 
have  the  power  of  arresting  and  imprisoning  every  slave- 


*  The  long  possession  of  almost  sovereign  rights  enjoyed  by  European 
consuls  in  the  East  has  given  the  people  a  confidence  in  their  sense  of  justice, 
and  would  prevent  them  from  fearing  any  encroachment  on  their  religious 
opinions. 


440  THE  HEART  OP  AFRICA. 

dealer,  of  sequestrating  his  property,  and  of  equipping  expe- 
ditions for  the  purpose  of  conveying  the  rescued  slaves  back 
to  their  own  homes.  As  these  expeditions  would  have  to 
traverse  hostile  territory,  they  must  necessarily  be  armed, 
and  the  commissioners  of  course  should  be  perfectly  incor- 
ruptible, inasmuch  as  they  would  be  constantly  exposed  to 
the  temptation  of  accepting  bribes. 

3.  To  place  the  negro-countries  that  suffer  most  from 
the  slave-trade  under  the  protection  of  European  Govern- 
ments, by  founding  States  expressly  for  their  defence.  The 
splitting  up  of  African  nations  into  small  States  has  ever 
been  the  main  hindrance  to  the  introduction  of  civilisation 
amongst  them ;  it  is  only  large  Powers,  and  such  as  are 
competent  to  organise  themselves,  that  offer  a  likely  foun- 
dation for  the  establishment  of  any  thriving  commerce  or 
traffic. 

4.  To  introduce  a  Chinese  immigration  into  the  Mo- 
hammedan countries  of  Africa,  of  which  the  population 
gives  little  attention  to  agriculture.  The  four  millions  of 
Egyptians  who  are  available  for  agricultural  occupations  are 
insufficient  to  do  justice  to  the  richness  of  the  soil;  but 
Chinese  labourers  would  thrive  well  in  Nubia,  and  would 
certainly,  in  the  course  of  a  few  years,  make  the  culture  of 
the  land  highly  remunerative. 

Under  existing  circumstances  there  can  be  no  ameliora- 
tion in  the  condition  of  the  Egyptian  States,  until  the 
slave-trade  is  not  only  held  in  check  at  its  sources,  but 
also  stopped  at  its  outlets.  This  can  only  be  effected  by 
the  rich  people  resigning  their  slaves  and  replacing  them 
by  paid  servants ;  the  change  would  doubtless  involve  many 
in  a  large  expense,  for  they  would  be  still  obliged  to  main- 
tain their  former  slaves,  the  greater  part  of  whom  would 
refuse  to  leave  their  masters;  still  a  great  step  would  be 
gained  if  a  law  could  be  passed  to  give  all  slaves  the  right 
of  demanding  payment  for  their  services ;   such  a  measure 


THE  VICEROY  OF  EGYPT.  441 

would  have  the*  effect  of  putting  a  limit  to  the  number  of 
slaves  that  are  kept,  and  by  forcing  the  masters  to  demand 
more  work  from  them,  would  have  a  tendency  to  rouse  the 
Orientals  from  their  humdrum  ways.  As  long  as  a  man 
retains  his  slaves  as  such,  there  is  nothing  to  prevent  him 
from  making  fresh  purchases,  so  that  any  other  measure 
than  that  which  I  have  described  would  be  so  much  trouble 
lost. 

That  there  is  any  assistance  to  be  expected,  under  the 
circumstances,  from  the  Khedive,  is  quite  a  delusion.  It 
is  commonly  supposed  that  the  ruler  of  Egypt  is  a  despot 
of  the  purest  Avater ;  this,  however,  is  a  great  mistake.  In 
many  respects  the  Egyptian  Government  is  extremely  mild ; 
criminals  and  officials  who  have  been  remiss  in  their  duty 
are  rarely  severely  punished,  and  the  only  delinquency  that 
it  will  not  overlook  is  the  refusal  to  pay  taxes;  and  even 
here  matters  would  not  b6  so  bad,  if  it  were  not  that  the 
disorderly  administration  involves  the  officials  in  making 
encroaching  demands.  The  Viceroy  has  little  power  over 
the  higher  authorities,  who  manage  to  sneak  behind  the 
Crescent  of  Stamboul ;  he  is  no  more  than  a  Viceroy ;  the 
liigh-soundiug  Persian  title  of  Khedive  which  he  assumes 
is  in  reality  no  more  than  a  title.  He  can  only  issue  his 
orders,  and  then  all  boats  that  come  down  the  White  Nile 
are  confiscated;  and  in  Khartoom  especially,  where  it  is 
good  policy  to  make  a  stir  in  the  eyes  of  the  European 
residents,  all  kinds  of  repressive  measures  are  proposed; 
in  displaying  their  zeal  hi  the  cause,  the  authorities  often 
commit  acts  of  the  greatest  injustice,  and  jMohammedans 
sometimes  find  their  wives  and  families  sequestrated  as 
slaves,  merely  because  they  happen  to  be  black.  Such 
proceedings  afford  a  fine  opportunity  for  the  subordinate 
officials  to  make  a  harvest  out  of  the  injured  people  by 
extorting  ransom-money,  and  by  making  other  extortionate 
demands.     I  can  myself  bear  witness  that  several  of  my 


442  THE  HEART  OF  AFRICA. 

servants  were  deprived  of  their  wives  and  children  and  put 
into  chains,  and  I  had  to  write  to  the  Minister,  and  accom- 
pany the  people  to  Cairo  myself,  before  I  could  get  justice 
done  to  them  and  their  rights  restored ;  and  all  this  .was 
only  for  the  purpose  of  throwing  dust  in  my  eyes  and 
inducing  me  to  report  upon  the  wonderful  energy  displayed 
by  the  local  government  in  Khartoom. 

But  meantime,  the  caravans  iind  their  way  just  the  same 
as  ever  through  Darfoor  and  Ivordofan  to  Don  go!  a  and 
Siout,  and  still  they  are  brought  from  Abyssinia  through 
Gallabat  to  the  Bed  Sea,  and  no  one  sees  them  but  the 
traveller.  In  Kordofan,  where  there  is  a  resident  Egyptian 
Governor,  the  trade  is  truly  enormous,  and  there  is  now 
as  well  the  slave-trade  from  Darfoor.  Siout,  the  common 
termination  of  the  roads,  is  the  only  place  where  this  trade 
can  be  cut  off,  and  that  could  only  be  effected  by  the 
heaviest  sacrifices  for  the  commerce  of  Egypt.  The  con- 
quest of  Darfoor  by  the  Egyptians  would  consequently  Ije 
a  great  step  in  advance ;  but  I  most  emphatically  protest 
against  Ismail  Pasha  being  allowed  to  send  Turkish  troops 
into  the  heathen  negro-countries,  for  it  may  literally  be  said 
that  "where  they  have  been,  no  grass  will  grow."  The 
kindest  thing  that  the  enlightened  ruler  of  Egypt  can  do 
for  these  lands  is  to  leave  them  alone ;  they  are  not  pro- 
ductive, and  if  they  were,  they  are  too  far  from  the 
navigable  rivers  to  make  any  of  their  products  that  are  in 
less  demand  than  ivorv  of  anv  mercantile  value. 


.CHAPTEE    XXIV. 

Tidings  of  war.  Two  months'  hunting.  Yolo  antelopes.  Eeed-rats.  Habits 
of  the  Aulacodus.  River  oysters.  Soliman's  arrival.  Advancing  season. 
Execution  of  a  rebel.  Return  to  Ghattas's  Seriba.  Disgusting  population. 
Allagabo.  Alarm  of  fire.  Strange  evolutions  of  hartebeests.  Nubian 
cattle  raids.  Traitors  among  the  natives.  Remains  of  Sliol's  huts.  Lepers 
and  slaves.  Ambiguous  slave-trading.  Down  the  Gazelle.  The  Baloeniceps 
again.  Dying  hippopotamus.  Invocation  of  saints.  Disturbance  at  night. 
False  alarm.  Taken  in  tow.  The  Mudir's  camp.  Crowded  boats.  Con- 
fiscation of  slaves.  Surprise  in  Fashoda.  Slave  caravans  on  the  bank. 
Arrival  in  Khartoom.  Telegram  to  Berlin.  Seizure  of  my  servants. 
Remonstrance  with  the  Pasha.  Mortality  in  the  fever  season.  Tikki- 
tikki's  death.     &d\aTTa,  BaXarra. 

The  first  boats  had  reached  the  Meshera  early  in  the  year, 
and  the  number  of  soldiers  in  the  Seriba  kept  continually 
increasing  by  the  arrival  of  fresh  contingents  from  Khartoom. 
The  firms  of  Ghattas  and  Kurshook  Ali  seemed  both  to  have 
a  sharp  look-out  for  business,  for  one  of  them  had  collected 
forty  and  the  other  seventy-eight  fresh  idlers  as  recruits. 
Their  arrival  gave  new  life  to  the  Seribas ;  friends  and  rela- 
tives who  had  not  met  for  years  exchanged  greetings  and 
recounted  mutual  experiences,  whilst  news  from.  Khartoom 
was  eagerly  circulated  and  as  eagerly  received. 

For  myself  there  was  a  collection  of  little  notes  sent  by  a 
friend  at  Khartoom  that  could  not  do  otherwise  than  excite 
my  keenest  interest.  They  were  six  months  old,  but  not  the 
less  on  that  account  did  they  stimulate  my  curiosity  :  in 
them  I  read,  in  sentences  that  were  almost  as  crisp  and  brief 
as  telegrams,  of  the  startling  events  of  the  previous  autumn. 
Naturally  I  turned  to  my  letters  from  home,  hoping  to  gather 


444  THE  HEART  OF  AFRICA. 

further  particulars  of  the  strange  occurrences  that  had  thus 
been  partially  unfolded,  but  I  found  that  these  letters  had 
all  been  written  a  year  ago,  whilst  peace  still  prevailed 
thi'oughout  Europe,  and  that  they  only  referred  to  ordinary 
and  commonplace  topics.  So  incomplete,  therefore,  were  the 
intimations  that  I  received  of  all  that  had  transpired  since 
November  1869,  that  the  events  all  remained  an  enigma  to 
me  which  I  could  very  imperfectly  comprehend.  It  is  true 
that  I  had  come  across  slave-traders  in  the  west  who  had 
recently  arrived  overland  from  Khartoom,  and  who  had  plenty 
to  tell  of  what  was  going  on  in  the  Soudan,  but  not  a  syllable 
fell  from  their  lips  about  the  great  war  of  the  Franks,  for 
who  besides  myself  was  interested  in  the  least  in  the  fall  of 
the  Emperor  of  the  French,  or  who  cared  either  to  hear  or 
to  relate  the  victories  of  the  Germans  ?  Although  when  I 
visited  Khartoom  many  months  had  elapsed  since  the  fall  of 
Magdala,  yet  near  as  it  was  to  the  seat  of  war,  the  intelli- 
gence of  the  Abyssinian  campaign  even  then  had  scarcely 
reached  the  town. 

Meagre  as  were  the  details  of  my  latest  intelligence,  it 
may  be  imagined  that  they  roused  me  to  the  greatest  excite- 
ment, so  that  it  was  with  the  most  feverish  expectation  that 
I  awaited  the  arrival  of  a  son  of  Kurshook  Ali,  who  would 
bring  definite  tidings  as  to  whether  there  was  peace  or  war 
in  Europe. 

As  it  had  been  my  intention  to  return  home  immediately 
after  my  Niam-niam  tour,  I  had  given  no  orders  in  the 
previous  year  for  any  quantity  of  fresh  stores  to  be  sent  me 
from  Khartoom ;  consequently  the  boats  that  now  arrived 
had  brought  me  nothing  beyond  the  few  articles  that  I  knew 
would  be  necessary  on  my  passage  down  the  river;  these 
inconsiderable  things,  meanwhile,  had  been  left  at  the 
Keshera;  but  after  the  hardships  of  the  last  few  months, 
I  felt  that  the  possession  of  the  merest  trifles  would  be  an 
incalculable  boon  to  me.     Pending  the  arrival  of  this  little 


ANTELOPE-HUNTING.  445 

addition  to  my  present  means,  I  had  still  to  endure  some 
weeks  of  poverty  ;  then  for  a  short  period  after  receiving  it 
I  enjoyed  a  brief  season  of  comparative  comfort  until  once 
more,  when  the  scanty  stock  was  exhausted,  I  relapsed  for 
the  rest  of  my  sojourn  in  the  country  into  a  state  of  des- 
titution more  distressing  than  ever. 

The  two  months  that  I  spent  in  Khalil's  huts  were  passed 
almost  entirely  in  hunting.  Not  only  was  the  abundance  of 
game  about  the  valley  of  the  Dyoor  a  great  inducement  to 
sport,  but  such  was  my  nervous  condition  that  continual 
exertion  was  the  only  thing  that  made  my  life  endurable. 
I  found  walking  to  be  the  best  antidote  to  depression  and 
the  most  effectual  remedy  for  headache  and  languor;  and 
it  was  only  during  the  hours  that  I  passed  in  the  wilderness 
that  any  of  my  former  energy  returned.  Whenever  I  found 
myseK  within  the  walls  of  my  hut  I  was  conscious  of  nothing 
but  weariness  and  dejection  and  was  only  tit  for  lounging  on 
my  bed ;  it  was  but  rarely  that  my  love  of  sketching  from 
nature  in  any  degree  diverted  me  or  gave  me  its  wonted 
amusement. 

Khalil  had  lent  me  a  capital  gun,  a  weapon  specially  suited 
for  antelope-shooting,  that  did  me  good  service.  During  the 
months  of  March  and  April  I  brought  down  as  many  as  five- 
and-twenty  head  of  the  larger  kinds  of  game,  including 
amongst  them  specimens  of  nearly  all  the  different  species 
of  antelopes  that  the  fauna  of  the  country  could  boast.  The 
number  of  caama  and  leucotis  antelopes  appeared  little  short 
of  inexhaustible.  The  flesh  of  the  leucotis  served  as  a  sub- 
stitute for  beef  and  mutton,  both  of  which  at  that  time  were 
exceedingly  scarce  in  all  the  Seribas.  I  had  no  butter  or 
lard  of  any  description,  but  the  meat  was  very  palatable 
when  simply  boiled  in  water.  The  lean  goats'  meat,  with  its 
soapy  flavom',  was  the  only  alternative,  and  that  after  awhile 
became  utterly  loathsome  to  me.  For  a  long  time  I  had 
had  no  vegetables  at  my  meals,  and  indeed  for  months  I  had 


446  THE  HEAET  OF  AFRICA. 

lived  without  any  vegetable  diet  at  all  with  the  exception  of 
some  sorghum  cakes. 

During  this  period  I  met  with  an  antelope  (A.  arundinacea) 
of  a  species  that  I  had  never  seen  before.  The  Bongo  called 
it  "  yolo,"  and  although  it  appeared  to  me  to  differ  from  the 
leucotis  merely  by  having  horns  of  about  one-third  the  length,, 
the  natives  insisted  that  it  was  quite  distinct ;  upon  closer 
investigation  I  could  not  help  acknowledging  that  the  people 
were  right,  and  that  several  marks  of  distinction  did  really 
exist :  in  the  first  place,  the  head  of  the  "  yolo  "  is  all  of  one 
colour ;  in  the  next,  it  is  deficient  in  the  black  stripe  along 
the  hind  leg  which  i^  always  seen  in  the  leucotis ;  and  the 
lower  joints  in  the  hind  legs  are  never  black,  but  of  the  same 
brown  colour  as  the  rest  of  the  body.  Again,  the  two  animals 
are  distinguished  by  their  habit,  for  while  the  "  yolos  "  are 
found  only  in  pairs  frequenting  the  bush  forests  in  the  vicinity 
of  the  rivers,  the  leucotis  are  observed  in  groups  (sometimes 
even  in  large  herds  of  several  dozen),  and  haunt,  not  the 
forests,  but  the  open  valleys  through  which  the  rivers  flow. 
It  was  highly  interesting  to  notice  the  keen  accuracy  with 
which  the  instinct  of  the  natives  had  taught  them  to  dis- 
criminate between  species  of  which  the  general  resemblances 
were  so  predominating  ;  the  droppings  of  the  animals  as  they 
move  from  place  to  place  are  quite  sufficient  to  enable  these 
observers  of  nature  to  distinguish  one  kind  of  antelope  from 
another. 

I  was  informed  that  the  end  of  February  was  the  best 
time  of  the  year  for  hunting  reed-rats  [Aulacodus  Sivinderi- 
anus).  Accordingly  one  day  I  arranged  an  excursion  to  the 
Dyoor,  and  engaging  a  number  of  natives  who  were  used  to 
the  sport  to  bring  their  lances  and  to  beat  up  the  game,  I 
set  off  under  their  guidance  to  the  spot  that  they  considered 
the  most  promising.  At  that  season  of  the  year,  when  all  the 
grass  was  so  thoroughly  dry,  it  did  not  seem  as  though  it 
could  be  a  matter  of  much  difficulty  to  kill  almost  unlimited 


HUNTING  REED-RATS. 


447 


numbers  of  these  reed-rats,  if  only  they  could  be  got  at ;  and 
so  in  fact  it  proved :  in  the  course  of  the  day  we  killed  no 
less  than  ten,  but  nearly  all  of  them  were  so  damaged  by 
the  merciless  use  of  the  lances  or  by  the  teeth  of  the  dogs 
that  they  were  of  iao  use  at  all  for  any  scientific  purpose. 
The  method  of  hunting,  it  must  be  confessed,  is  somewhat 
rough.  As  soon  as  a  spot  is  discovered  frequented  by  the 
animals,  a  ring  of  the  tall  grass  is  set  alight,  so  that  escape 


Hunting  reed-rats. 

is  rendered  impossible,  and  every  one  of  the  poor  brutes 
within  the  circle  of  flame  is  compelled  to  show  itself.  The 
reed-rats  invariably  keep  in  concealment  until  the  very  last 
moment,  and  when  finally  they  make  an  attempt  to  escape 
they  get  their  feet  so  scorched  and  their  coats  so  singed 
that  it  is  very  difficult  to  secure  a  perfect  specimen ;  they 
are  in  this  respect  like  the  wild  hares  of  the  deserts,  which 
are  subject  to  the  delusion  that  however  close  at  hand  their 


448  THE  HEART  OF  AFRICA. 

pursuers  may  be,  they  may  still  be  safe  by  remaining  quiet 
in  their  hiding-places ;  as  soon  as  they  are  obliged  to  quit 
them  they  get  killed  by  stones  and  clubs.  In  many  parts 
where  the  grass  that  had  survived  the  steppe-burning  was 
unusually  thick,  the  Dyoor  had  only  to  thrust  in  their  spears 
at  random  and  they  had  every  chance  of  spearing  one  of  the 
reed-rats.  The  case  is  pretty  much  the  same  in  the  various 
pools  full  of  fish  left  by  the  subsidence  of  the  river. 

The  Aulacodus  finds  a  habitat  in  all  the  tropical  regions 
of  the  continent ;  it  is  ordinarily  found  in  the  neighbourhood 
of  brooks  and  rivers,  burying  itself  in  deep  holes  amidst  the 
reeds  ;  when,  however,  it  is  in  search  of  its  food  it  will  wander 
away  to  a  considerable  distance  from  its  place  of  concealment, 
and  thus  allow  the  hunters  a  chance  of  killing  it.  The  larger 
rivers  are  the  natural  channels  for  the  wanderings  of  the 
creature,  its  movements  in  the  water  being  assisted  by  its 
hind  feet  being  furnished  with  webs ;  but  these  webs,  it  is  to 
be  observed,  are  not  perfectly  developed  ;  they  do  not  stretch 
across  from  toe  to  toe  in  straight  lines,  but  go  in  curves  that 
vary  considerably  in  their  stretch.  On  account  of  this  pecu- 
liarity Th.  von  Heuglin  has  suggested  that  the  reed-rat  found 
on  the  Gazelle  River  should  be  classified  as  A.  semipalmatus, 
to  distinguish  it  from  the  species  of  the  Zambesi  and  Gambia, 
which  is  entirely  wanting  in  the  webbed  foot. 

A  full-grown  reed-rat  is  never  less  than  twenty  inches  in 
length,  but  a  third  of  this  must  be  assigned  to  the  rat-like 
tail,  Avhich  is  coated  over  with  thin  hair,  nearly  black  on  the 
top  and  light  grey  underneath.  The  snout,  throat,  breast, 
and  belly  are  covered  with  hair  almost  as  prickly  as  the 
bristles  of  a  young  hedgehog,  light  grey  in  colour ;  on  the 
back  and  sides  the  colour  is  shaded  down  to  a  brownish  hue, 
that  is  to  say,  the  grey  hairs  are  tipped  with  a  lightish  tan- 
brown.  In  February  the  half-grown  animals  shed  their 
bristles  and  acquire  an  entirely  new  coat.  The  skin  is  about 
an  eighth   of  an  inch   thick,   but  is  quite  soft,   and    may 


THE  FAR-EL-BOOS. 


449 


easily  be  torn  ;  it  is  lined  w  itli  a  uniform  layer  of  fat.  The 
meat  is  excellent  wlien  roasted  ;  it  is  rich,  and  without  being 
sweet  and  insipid  like  that  of  the  rock  rabbit,  it  is  free  from 
any  unpleasant  flavour;  in  quality  it  is  about  equal  to  poultry, 
whilst  in  taste  it  may  be  described  as  being  intermediate 
between  veal  and  pork.  As  a  cloven-footed  animal,  without 
horns  and  non-ruminant,  the  Nubians  of  course  consider  it 


Far-el-boos.     (Aulacodus  Sk  indcriunus.') 

to  be  unclean ;  but  the  Mohammedans  of  the  stepjies  and 
deserts  are  not  so  scrnpulous;  to  the  Baggara  and  the 
Foorip.ns  a  roast  reed-rat  is  as  great  a  delicacy  as  a  haie  is 
to  the  Bishareen  and  Hadendoa.  Amongst  Ihe  natives  of 
the  Nubian  towns  and  Nile-valley  the  Far-el-boos  (as  the 
reed-rat  is  called  in  Arabic)  gives  rise  to  a  good  deal  of 
mutual  banter,  and  in  times  of  deartli  they  jocosely  charge 
one  another  with  eating  reed-rats  on  the  sly. 

The  food   of  the  Aulacodus   consists,  1   believe,   of  the 


450  THE  HEART  OF  AFRICA. 

aromatic  rhizomes  of  certain  kinds  of  gi-ass  that  grow  in 
the  depressions  of  the  rivers  ;  but  as  I  only  judge  from  the 
green  finely-minced  particles  that  were  contained  in  the 
stomach,  I  am  unable  to  speak  positively  on  this  point. 
The  natives  esteem  the  contents  of  the  stomach  as  a  special 
delicacy ;  and  my  dogs,  that  were  generally  dainty  enough 
to  reject  rats  and  mice,  greedily  devoured  all  the  entrails. 

Tikkitikki,  armed  with  his  bow  and  arrows,  was  an  eager 
participator  in  our  sport.  He  declared  that  reed-rats  are 
never  found  in  the  land  of  the  Monbuttoo,  but  are  per- 
fectly well  known  to  all  the  Niam-niam,  who  call  them 
"remooh,"  or  "alimooh."  In  common  with  many  other 
Africans,  the  Niam-niam  often  adopt  the  practice  of 
burying  their  stores  of  ivory  (either  as  a  protection  from 
the  disasters  of  war  or  from  the  chance  of  fire)  in  the 
damp  soil  of  the  swamps,  which  are  the  haunts  of  the 
Aulacodus;  the  ivory  forms  just  the  substance  that  meets 
the  requirements  of  the  animal  for  sharpening  and  grinding 
down  its  front  teeth,  and  consequently  gets  gnawed  in  every 
direction. 

Khalil  required  300  bearers  to  convey  his  stores  from 
the  Meshera,  but  as  these  could  not  be  collected  in  a  day, 
and  as  the  prevailing  scarcity  made  it  impossible  to  main- 
tain any  others  beyond  the  soldiers  that  were  already  in 
the  Seribas,  the  new-comers  were  turned  out  to  pick  up 
what  they  could  for  themselves  from  amongst  the  neigh- 
bouring Dinka  until  the  entire  troop  could  be  got  together. 
A  good  many  days  elapsed  before  the  great  caravan  was 
complete;  and,  in  the  meantime,  the  soldiers  who  had 
already  started  were  having  continual  conflicts  with  the 
Dinka,  who  were  resolved  not  to  part  with  their  corn 
without  a  struggle. 

On  the  4th  of  March  200  of  Ghattas's  Bongo  bearers 
arrived  at  the  Seriba  on  their  way  to  carry  com  to  the 
Turkish  camp.     All  their  loads  put  together  would  hardly 


DIFFICULTIES  OF  TRANSPORT.  451 

have  amounted  to  twenty  ardebs.  Hopelessly  stupid  are 
the  people ;  it  roused  my  indignation '  to  think  how,  in 
spite  of  the  hard  and  level  roads  that  were  established 
during  the  dry  season,  they  had  never  introduced  a  single 
vehicle  of  any  description  into  the  country.  Thirty  hand- 
barrows  or  three  bullock-waggons  would  have  amply  sufficed 
to  convey  the  \\hole  of  the  corn,  and  yet  they  employed 
these  200  bearers,  who,  during  the  twenty-four  days  that 
they  would  be  on  their  journey  to  their  destination  and  back, 
would,  at  the  very  lowest  computation,  consume  as  much  as 
forty  ardebs  of  durra,  just  double  the  quantity  they  had  to 
deliver.  The  extortions  of  the  Government  are  thus,  in 
the  course  of  the  year,  three  or  four  times  as  great  as 
they  need  be ;  the  troops  may  require  some  600  ardebs 
of  corn,  but  in  procuring  this,  at  least  another  600  ardebs 
would  be  wasted,  to  say  nothing  about  the  reckless  and 
lavish  expenditure  of  time  and  strength  which  is  thrown 
away  upon  the  proceedings.  I  cannot  help  repeating  these 
details,  in  order  to  show  to  what  a  senseless  system  of 
robbery  these  negro-countries  are  exposed  as  soon  as  ever 
they  come  withiu  the  grasp  of  Mohammedan  rule. 

In  March  the  natives  employ  themselves  in  h'shing. 
Towards  the  middle  of  the  month  the  numerous  back- 
waters and  s\N  amp  channels  that  have  b.een  left  by  the 
Dyoor  are  separated  into  independent  basins  by  means  of 
dams,  that  may  be  seen  thrown  up  in  all  directions  across 
the  intricate  ramifications  of  the  water ;  when  these  basins 
have  been  thoroughly  drained,  the  fish  are  left  lying  above, 
or  just  embedded  in  the  mud  and  slime,  and  may  easily  be 
taken  with  the  hand.  All  the  inhabitants  of  the  district 
were  in  some  measure  concerned  in  the  fishing  of  the 
Dyoor,  and  it  afforded  me  a  pleasant  diversion,  when  I  was 
out  on  my  hunting-excursions,  to  stop  awhile  and  watch 
the  artifices  by  which  they  contrive  to  entrap  the  fish. 

At  the  part  of  the  river  which,  being  deep,  was  frequented 

Vol.  II.— 31 


452  THE  EEAET  OF  AFEICA, 

by  hippopotamuses,  the  right-hand  bank  was  more  than 
fifteen  feet  high,  and  rose  perpendicularly  from  the  water ; 
the  upper  section  of  the  soil  of  the  bank  was  a  ferruginous 
clay  which  went  down  to  a  depth  of  eight  feet,  below  which 
was  a  broad  white  stripe  some  four  feet  thick,  resting  upon 
the  gneiss  that  apparently  was  the  substratum  of  the  entire 
alluvium  of  the  river-valley.  The  white  stripe  of  the  soil 
had  a  chalky  look,  and  contained  fragments  of  quartz;  it 
consisted  of  a  crumbling  product  of  felspar,  such  as  may 
frequently  be  seen,  under  similar  circumstances,  in  the 
hollows  of  other  river-courses  and  brooks  throughout  the 
country. 

In  all  parts  of  the  dry  sandy  bed  may  be  found  the  shells 
of  the  river-oyster  (Etheria  CaiUiaudii),  which  is  wanting 
in  none  of  the  affluents  of  the  Upper  Nile,  and  is  known 
to  the  Niam-niam  as  the  "  mohperre."  In  the  deeper  parts 
of  the  bed  of  the  Dyoor  these  oysters  exist  in  groups, 
adhering  firmly  to  blocks  of  swamp-ore  that,  having  become 
detached  from  the  top  of  the  banks,  have  fallen  into  the 
river,  and  so  are  permanently  under  water.  While  the 
Etheria  is  young,  the  shell  is  almost  circular,  but  as  it 
increases  in  age,  it  becomes  elongated  and  irregular,  and 
occasionally  attains  the  extraordinary  length  of  eighteen 
inches.  The  flavour  of  this  moUusk  is  rather  sweet  and 
mawkish,  and  to  me  pal'ticularly  unpleasant. 

On  the  20th,  my  temporary  abode  was  very  consider- 
ably enlivened  by  the  arrival  of  Soliman,  the  owner 
of  the  Seriba,  the  eldest  son  of  the  late  Kurshook  Ali. 
He  was  quite  a  young  man,  and  entirely  inexperienced  in 
the  management  of  the  extensive  property  that  he  had 
recently  inherited  from  his  father.  It  is  matter  of  notoriety 
that  whenever  an  Oriental  proceeds  on  his  travels  he  takes 
a  large  supply  of  his  luxuries  with  him;  thus  it  happens 
that  his  valuable  baggage,  consisting  of  clothes,  weapons,  and 
harness,  as  well    as  his  horses,  makes  it  especially  worth 


SOLIMAN.  453 

while  to  waylay  him  and  plunder  him  of  his  wealth.  From 
this  disaster  Kurshook  Ali  had  been  spared  during  his  life, 
but  no  sooner  was  he  dead  than,  as  I  have  already  had 
occasion  to  mention,  his  successor  in  office  appropriated  all 
his  effects  and  proceeded  to  dispose  of  them  in  the  open 
market  to  the  best  bidders.  It  was  on  this  account  that 
the  son  of  the  deceased  Sandjak  had  been  induced  to  under- 
take this  laborious  journey  in  person,  and  he  arrived  at  the 
Seriba  with  the  double  purpose  of  saving  whatever  residue 
there  might  be  of  his  father's  property  and  of  exacting  an 
account  from  Ahmed  Aga  of  what  already  had  been  sold. 

With  much  pleasure  I  still  remember  my  first  meeting 
with  Soliman,  and  can  yet  recall  the  eager  curiosity  with 
which  I  turned  the  conversation  to  the  position  of  the 
European  Powers.  As  he  was  the  chief  of  a  great  mer- 
cantile firm,  and  consequently  associated  with  the  more 
educated  class  of  Khartoomers^  I  quite  hoped  that  he  would 
be  able  to  give  me  some  decisive  political  intelligence  ;  but 
all  the  information  that  I  could  obtain  from  him  was  that 
when  he  left  Khartoom  in  January,  no  announcement  of 
peace  had  reached  that  town. 

Old  Khalil,  who  had  never  been  out  of  the  negro-countries 
for  fifteen  years,  was  just  as  ignorant  of  political  matters  as 
the  lowest  of  his  countrymen ;  not  only  had  he  to  ask  what 
was  the  name  of  the  Governor-General  of  Khartoom,  but 
he  seemed  to  be  quite  unconscious  that  Egypt  was  in  any 
degree  an  independent  country.  Most  of  the  people  were 
quite  unacquainted  with  the  name  of  the  Khedive  in  power, 
and  I  heard  some  of  them  ask  what  the  Pasha  was  called  in 
Cairo ;  of  one  thing,  however,  they  said  they  were  perfectly 
sure,  namely,  that  Abdul  Aziz  was  the  sovereign  who  ruled 
over  all  the  believers,  and  that  all  the  kings  of  the  Franks 
were  his  vassals ;  it  was  true,  they  confessed,  that  the 
Emperor  of  Moscow,  some  years  ago,  had  the  audacity  to 
pretend  that  he  was  independent;  but  now,  thanks  to  the 


154  THE  HEART  OF  AFRICA. 

fidelity  of  the  great  Sultan's  vassals,  he  was  very  glad  to  eat 
humble-pie,  just  as  it  had  happened  before  with  Buonaparte, 
the  "  Sultan-el-Kebir." 

Such  was  the  ignorance  of  the  Soudanese;  and  the  few 
sentences  that  I  have  recorded  will  serve  for  an  epitome  of 
their  political  knowledge.  When  they  heard  me  talking  to 
Soliman  about  peace  and  war  in  the  land  of  the  Franks, 
they  wanted  to  learn  what  sort  of  people  the  Prussians  (the 
"  Borusli ")  were.  Soliman  answered  them  with  the  greatesf 
naivete.  He  described  Prussia  as  a  "  country  with  very  fe\i 
people,"  meaning  to  imply  that  it  was  about  the  smallest 
of  the  great  Powers.  "And  have  these  few  people,"  they 
went  on  to  inquire,  "  made  the  great  Emperor  of  the 
Franks  a  prisoner?  Do  you  mean  that  they  have  taken 
the  Emperor,  whose  likeness  is  stamped  on  all  the  gold 
money  ? "  "0  yes,"  answered  Soliman,  "  he  was  a  big 
rascal;  and  heaven  has  rewarded  him  according  to  his 
deserts." 

It  was  on  the  30th  of  March  that  the  people  arrived  from 
the  Meshera,  and  no  one  can  tell  how  delighted  I  was  to 
get  the  few  stores  that  had  been  sent  me  from  Khartoom. 
Provided  as  I  was  with  a  new  stock  of  paper,  I  again  set 
about  my  botanical  work  which  had  so  long  been  suspended, 
and  renewed  my  investigations  with  redoubled  ardour;  it 
was  the  opening  of  the  third  spring-tide  in  which  it  had 
been  my  singular  happiness  to  gather  the  tribute  of  Central 
Africa  to  lay  upon  the  altar  of  science.  The  period  of  my 
return  to  Europe  was  getting  near,  and  I  was  eager  to 
make  a  collection  of  all  the  bulbs  and  tubers  that  I  could ; 
I  was  very  careful  to  dig  them  up  before  they  had  thrown 
out  any  of  their  fresh  shoots,  and  was  very  successful  in 
procui-ing  a  large  number,  which  I  deposited  in  Berlin  in 
a  state  of  perfect  vitality;  amongst  them  were  many  rare 
plants,  and  particularly  some  specimens  of  the  Oycadese  from 
the  countiy  of  the  Niam-niam.     In  consequence,  however. 


METEOROLOGICAL  EVENTS.  455 

either  of  the  defective  construction  of  the  plant-houses, 
or  of  the  inexperience  of  the  gardeners,  many  of  these 
subsequently  died. 

The  meteorological  events  of  1871  deviated  in  some 
degree  from  their  normal  rule.  The  seasons  were  not  at 
all  sharply  defined,  as  they  had  been  in  the  two  preceding 
years.  Throughout  March  there  was  a  perpetual  struggle 
between  directly  contrary  winds;  first  the  north-east  wind 
contended  violently  with  the  south-east  wind,  and  only 
desisted  to  commence  a  conflict  just  as  furious  with  the 
south-west.  About  the  middle  of  the  month  the  days  were 
extremely  hot,  and  the  dominant  north-east  wind  raged  with 
almost  the  intensity  of  a  simoom,  that  threatened  to  convert 
the  land  into  a  desert.  On  two  separate  days  there  were 
some  slight  showers,  but  the  first  heavy  rain  was  that  which 
fell  on  the  31st.  In  April  there  were  six  slight  Mis,  and 
four  very  heavy  falls,  of  rain,  the  south-west  wind  being 
generally  prevalent,  although  there  were  several  days  when 
the  rude,  rough  Boreas  still  sturggled  vehemently  for  the 
mastery.  In  May  there  were  five  showery  days  and  three 
that  were  thoroughly  wet. 

The  reappearance,  for  the  first  time,  of  various  plants  and 
animals  marked,  as  it  were,  the  separate  stages  of  the 
advancing  season,  and  prompted  me  to  make  a  sort  of 
farmer's  calendar  of  the  different  events.  It  was  on  the 
16th  that  the  wind  suddenly  veered  to  the  south-east  and 
some  drops  of  rain  fell,  the  first  that  had  occurred  since  the 
passing  shower  on  the  11th  of  February.  The  direction  of 
the  wind  seemed  now  to  be  settleil,  and  in  the  course  of  the 
night  I  heard  a  cricket  chirping  on  the  grass.  Before  many 
days  had  past  the  cicadas  put  in  an  appearance,  and  in  the 
middle  of  the  day  the  air  resounded  with  their  shrill  tones, 
clear  almost  as  the  ring  of  metal.  At  the  beginning  of 
April  the  humidity  of  the  atmosphere  rapidly  increased, 
whilst  the  heat  remained  intense,  the  average  temperature 


456  THE  HEART  OF  AFRICA. 

being  not  less  than  81°  Fahr.  This  unhealthy  concurrence 
of  hot  atmosphere  with  damp  had  the  effect  of  bringing  out 
an  angry  eruption  all  over  ray  body,  causing  an  irritation  so 
violent  that  ray  rest  at  night  was  completely  destroyed. 
Heat  and  moisture  together  are  never  beneficial  to  the 
health,  except  there  is  a  complete  protection  from  the  chance 
of  taking  cold. 

The  3rd  of  April,  three  days  after  the  first  decidedly  heavy 
rain,  is  noted  in  my  register  as  being  the  first  day  upon 
which  the  floor  of  my  hut  was  covered  with  those  uncomfort- 
able visitors  which  never  wait  for  a  welcome ;  I  mean  par- 
ticularly those  strange  Arachnidse,  the  Galeodes  (or  scoi'pion- 
spiders),  with  their  great  venomous  mandibles,  and  the  whole 
family  of  scorpions  proper.  My  poor  negroes  were  terribly 
punished  by  them,  and  from  head  to  foot  there  was  not  a 
portion  of  their  body  that  enjoyed  immunity  from  their 
attacks.  It  was  after  a  very  heavy  rainfall  that,  on 'the 
evening  of  the  18th,  I  saw  the  first  winged  white  ants  (sexual 
males)  issue  from  the  clay  pyramid  of  their  "  gontoor." 

Towards  the  middle  of  the  month  the  stores  of  corn  were 
so  nearly  exhausted  that  Khalil  was  obliged  to  decline 
showing  any  hospitality  to  the  Gellahbas  that  passed  through 
the  Seriba.  Soliman  himself  was  compelled  to  quit  the 
place,  and  lu's  old  Vokeel  took  a  trip  to  his  Bongo  Seribas 
to  gather  together  what  additional  supplies  he  could.  For 
myself,  I  was  suffering  privation  almost  as  severe  as  I  had 
endured  in  the  previous  May  upon  the  shores  of  the  Nabam- 
bisso,  on  some  days  being  unable  to  obtain  a  single  handful 
of  durra-corn ;  still,  distressing  as  my  condition  was,  I  could 
not  at  once  make  up  my  mind  to  retrace  my  steps  to 
Ghattas's  head  Seriba.  I  was  quite  aware  that  I  should 
be  better  off  there  for  provisions  than  anywhere  else,  but  the 
disaster  of  the  2nd  of  December  had  left  such  an  impression 
upon  my  mind  that  the  very  name  of  the  place  was  hateful 
to  me  ;  and  I  felt  that  I  should  for  my  own  part  much  prefer 


AN  EXECUTION.  457 

to  drag  out  four  months  in  a  starving  Seriba  and  a  barren 
wilderness,  rather  than  to  enjoy  meat  and  milk  at  the  cost 
of  residing  amidst  the  scenes  of  my  disappointment  and 
misfortune. 

One  day,  just  about  this  time,  a  former  Bongo  chief,  who 
had  escaped  to  the  mountains  on  the  southern  frontier, 
having  been  captured  after  'a  long  pursuit,  Avas  brought  back 
by  Kurshook  All's  people  to  the  Seriba.  He  had  clandes- 
tinely murdered  many  of  the  Nubians,  and  had  instigated 
the  natives  to  revolt  against  their  conquerors.  His  con- 
demnation and  execution  now  followed  forthwith.  I  heard 
nothing  of  the  matter  until  it  was  all  over,  but  my  negroes, 
who  had  been  witnesses  of  the  whole  proceeding,  gave  it  as 
their  opinion  that  the  punishment  was  well-deserved.  They 
described  to  me  the  mode  of  carrying  out  the  sentence.  The 
delinquent,  they  said,  had  been  taken  out  a  considerable 
distance  into  the  forest,  dragging  after  him  a  long  sheyba 
that  was  fastened  to  his  neck ;  all  at  once  he  had  been  felled 
to  the  ground  by  a  tremendous  blow,  directed  just  below  the 
knees,  from  one  of  those  huge  swords  four  feet  long  that 
have  been  made  for  centuries  at  Solingen  near  Diisseldorf. 
and  are  still  manufactured  for  the  especial  use  of  the  African 
Bedouins  and  Arabs ;  two  more  heavy  blows  had  then  cut 
off  his  arms ;  and  last  of  all,  the  attack  had  been  levelled  at 
his  head,  which  was  hacked,  rather  than  cleanly  severed,  from 
his  body. 

There  are  always  to  be  found  in  this  country  those  who 
are  singularly  dexterous  in  the  use  of  the  swords  that  I  have 
mentioned.  They  use  them  for  performing  amputations  in 
their  own  barbarous  way.  If  mortification  from  an  ulcer  or 
any  other  cause  seems  to  be  setting  in,  so  that  a  hand  or  a 
foot  is  deemed  incurable,  the  limb  is  fastened  to  a  block  of 
wood,  and  with  one  blow  of  the  sword  the  part  affected  is 
severed  almost  within  a  hair's  breadth  of  the  part  that  is 
sound.     Instances   far  from   unfrequent   have  been  known 


458  THE  HEAET  OF  AFRICA. 

where  tlie  sufferers  have  had  the  fortitude  to  perform  the 
operation,  hazardous  as  it  is,  upou  themselves.  The  custom 
is  of  great  antiquity  amongst  the  Arabs,  and  probably  is  not 
to  be  disassociated  from  the  ancient  Gospel  precept,  "  If  thy 
right  hand  offend  thee,  cut  it  off,  and  cast  it  from  thee." 

Eeluctaut  as  I  was,  I  iound  myself  compelled  at  last  to 
yield  to  the  urgent  solicitations  of  my  hungry  Bongo  and  to 
set  off  for  Ghattas's  Seriba.  We  started  on  the  21st.  We 
found  the  Dyoor,  which  had  risen  during  the  last  few  days, 
somewhat  subsiding  again,  but  the  whole  breadth  of  the  bed 
was  still  covered  with  water,  although  only  two  and  a  half 
feet  deep;  in  the  two  previous  years  it  had  not  begun  to  rise 
until  a  fortnight  later.  Aboo  Guroon's  Seriba  was  just  in 
the  same  miserable  condition  of  want  as  the  district  we  had 
left,  and  we  found  the  natives  eagerly  engaged  in  collecting 
the  bitter  berries  of  certain  kinds  of  the  Capparideee,  of  which, 
after  soaking  them  repeatedly  in  boiling  water,  they  manage 
to  make  a  sort  of  pap.  The  berry  of  the  Boxia  oetandra  is 
likewise  used  for  a  similar  purpose,  having  been  first  dried 
in  the  sun  to  remove  the  astringent  cotyledons  and  then 
pounded  in  a  mortar. 

As  we'  continued  our  journey,  we  could  not  be  otherwise 
than  surprised  at  the  large  flocks  of  maraboo-storks  that  we 
saw  congregated  amidst  the  burnt  grass  in  the  low  steppes 
adjacent  to  the  bed  of  the  Molmul :  most  probably  they  were 
searching  for  the  bodies  of  the  snakes,  lizards,  and  mice  that 
had  been  killed  in  the  recent  conflagration. 

With  the  4th  of  May  came  the  commencement  of  the 
general  sowing  of  the  crops ;  men's  hearts  revived,  and  they 
began  to  anticipate  happier  times. 

Ghattas's  granaries  still  contained  some  corn  ;  and  a  small 
number  of  cattle,  the  residue  of  his  once  enormous  herds, 
was  yet  to  be  seen  in  his  farmyard.  But  in  spite  of  my 
sense  of  these  material  comforts,  the  crowded  Seriba  was 
most  repulsive  to  me :  changed  indeed  it  was  in  a  way  ;  but 


MISERY  AND  DIRT.  459 

in  its  essential  character  it  had  remained  true  to  its  old 
composition.  Certain  it  was  that  the  swarms  of  rats  that 
had  infested  the  huts  and  undermined  the  soil  had  been  all 
but  exterminated  by  the  fire ;  the  crowds  of  red-headed 
lizards  (Agamas)  that  used  to  frisk  up  and  down  the  old 
rotten  palisade  were  no  louger  to  be  seen  ;  the  horned  beetles 
{Scarahseus  nasicornus)  and  their  grubs  that  had  once  covered 
every  dung-heap  were  totally  annihilated ;  it  was  man  alone 
who  was  unchanged,  and  the  same  revolting  forms,  infected 
with  syphilis,  scabs,  and  boils  were  spreading  their  putrid 
miasma  around.  Tottering  along  betwixt  the  crooked,  tumble- 
down straw  hedges  and  amidst  the  heaps  of  garbage  and 
of  refuse  might  still  be  seen  the  wretched  fever-stricken 
beings,  with  sliorn  heads  covered  with .  scabs  and  every  limb 
a  mass  of  festering  matter ;  everywhere  prevailed  the 
moaning  and  groaning  of  a  lingering  death  ;  the  people  were 
not  so  much  what  they  were  accustomed  to  call  themselves 
and  each  other  in  their  curses,  "  dogs  and  the  sons  of  dogs," 
they  were  rather  sons  of  dirt,  born  and  bred  in  an  atmo- 
sphere of  abscess  and  corruption. 

I  found  my  former  garden  ragged  and  barren  as  a  wilder- 
ness ;  the  only  surviving  memorials  of  what  it  had  been  were 
the  tomatoes  flourishing  persistently  upon  the  fertile  soil, 
and  the  sunflowers  that  gloried  in  the  tropical  sun.  Some 
of  the  sunflowers  rose  in  great  pyramids  of  foliage  to  a 
height  of  over  ten  feet,  and  with  their  huge  disks  of  blossoms 
ever  turned  towards"  the  lull  glare  of  light,  presented  an 
appearance  that  was  very  striking.  In  this  strange  world 
their  splendour  could  not  but  irresistibly  attract  me,  and  1 
often  sat  down  on  the  ground  before  them,  and  while  gazing 
on  their  brightness  recalled  the  fading  memories  of  the  past 
and  conjured  up  anew  the  recollections  of  my  distant  travels, 
looking  back  upon  the  scenes  I  had  passed,  as  a  traveller 
looking  through  the  back  window  of  his  carriage  might  take 
a  retrospect  of  the  country  he  had  left  beliind. 


4(S0  THE  HEART  OF  AFRICA. 

In  order  to  obtain  a  short  reprieve  from  my  melancholy 
and  unpleasant  surroundings  and  to  finish  up  with  a  few  days' 
quiet  enjoyment  of  nature,  I  resolved,  towards  the  end  of 
May,  to  take  a  farewell  trip  to  Geer,  and  so  to  pay  a  parting 
visit  to  the  Bongo.  I  had  become  quite  attached  to  this 
people,  and  had  determined  to  take  a  young  Bongo  boy  back 
with  me  to  Europe.  My  new  protege  was  named  Allagabo.* 
He  seemed  to  me  to  be  sharper  and  quicker  in  ability  than 
many  of  his  race,  even  of  those  who  were  considerably  older 
than  himself;  and  I  intended  him  accordingly  to  be  properly 
educated ;  his  family  lived  in  Geer,  and  whilst  I  was  there 
I  received  various  visits  from  his  father,  uncle,  and  aunt,  to 
all  of  whom  I  made  what  presents  I  could,  and  immortalised 
them  in  my  portfolio.  They  no  longer  exercised  any  right 
over  Allagabo,  as  he  had  been  .stolen  from  his  home  a  long 
time  before  by  the  Dinka,  and  disposed  of  by  them  to  the 
controller  of  the  Seriba  in  exchange  for  some  cattle  ;  the  boy's 
good  fortune  was  quite  a  matter  of  congratulation  to  his 
relatives,  as  they  were  fully  convinced  he  would  lead  a  much 
happier  life  with  me  than  he  -could  possibly  expect  in  his 
savage  home.  His  mother,  some  years  previously,  after  one 
of  the  regular  cattle-exchanges,  had  been  carried  off  as  a 
slave  to  Khartoom ;  she  was  the  only  one  of  his  relations 
for  whom  Allagabo  had  any  yearning,  and  later,  when  he  had 
grown  accustomed  to  his  European  life  and  begun  to  confide 
in  me,  he  used  to  tell  me  that  the  image  of  his  mother 
haunted  him  in  his  dreams  and  hovered  over  him  with  tears 
in  her  eyes.  I  made  many  inquiries  for  her  in  Khartoom, 
but  never  succeeded  in  learning  anything  about  her.  For 
his  father,  Allagabo  had  little  affection  or  respect.  When 
I  was  making  presents  I  had  noticed  that  he  was  always 
urging  me  to  hand  my  gifts  by  preference  to  his  uncle, 


*  Allagabo  is  the  Arabic  rendering  of  the  Greek  Tlieodoro  (gift  of  God); 
by  the  Dinka  the  lad  was  called  "  Teem,"  i.e.  "  a  tree,"  because  his  native 
name  was  "  Lebbe,"  which  i.-<  tlie  Bongo  wor-1  for  a  species  of  mimosa. 


i!||iil 


^^: 


'J^- 


~i 


462  THE  HEART  OF  AFRICA. 

Ghattas,  was  making  a  tour  amongst  the  eastern  Seribas  of 
the  Kohl,  and  intended  very  shortly  to  come  on  to  us.  To 
me  tlie  information  was  very  opportune,  as  it  gave  me  a 
handle,  which  I  did  not  fail  to  use,  to.  induce  Idrees,  our 
controller,  to  hurry  on  his  movements  in  my  behalf.  I 
made  liim  understand  how  much  worse  it  would  be  for  him 
if  Abdel  Mesih  should  arrive  before  I  had  taken  my  de- 
parture ;  for  most  certainly  if  I  had  the  chance  I  should 
report  upon  the  negligence  that  had  caused  the  burning- 
down  of  the  Seriba,  and  should  demand  compensation  for  all 
my  losses.  The  consequences,  I  warned  him,  would  be  that 
his  master  would  at  once  remove  him  from  his  post,  and  that 
he  would  have  to  go  back  to  his  place  in  Khartoom  a  poor 
beggarly  slave.  My  threats  answered  their  purpose  admi- 
rably ;  they  put  Idrees  into  a  frightful  state  of  alarm ;  he 
lost  no  time  in  pushing  matters  forward,  and  on  the  4th  of 
June  everything  was  ready  for  the  march  to  the  Meshera. 

Our  party  consisted  of  fifty  soldiers  and  rather  more  thar 
300  bearers.  We  started  along  our  former  road  to  the 
north-east,  through  the  low-lying  country  of  the  Dinka, 
which  I  had  previously  traversed  during  the  month  of 
March  ;  but  so  advanced  was  the  season  now  that  the  whole 
region  presented  quite  a  new  aspect.  Bulbous  plants  ol 
every  variety  shed  their  enlivening  hues  over  the  splendid 
plains,  which  were  adorned  by  noble  trees,  park-like  in  their 
groupings.  There  was  a  descent  in  the  land,  but  it  was 
scarcely  perceptible.  We  were  only  aware  that  we  were 
approaching  the  limits  of  the  rocky  soil,  when,  on  emerging 
from  the  bush,  we  saw  stretching  far  before  us  the  first 
great  steppe  that  marked  the  commencement  of  the  Dinka 
country.  Scattered  at  intervals  over  the  plain  were  some 
very  remarkable  groves.  These  were  not  only  singularly 
compact,  but  their  outline  was  as  sharply  defined  as  if  it 
had  been  drawn  by  compasses,  each  cluster  seeming  to  form 
itself  around  some  unusually  tall  tree  that  was  a  common 


THE  DINKA  COUNTRY.  463 

centre  for  the  rest.  The  fantastic  forms  of  tlie  wild 
Phoenix  and  the  candelabra-Euphorbia  were  the  most 
conspicuous  amidst  these  striking  groups. 

Our  jSrst  night-camp  was  pitched  at  a  deserted  niurah 
belonging  to  the  Ayarr  tribe.  The  deep  holes  that  re- 
mained where  wells  had  formerly  been  sunk,  allowed  us  to 
make  a  very  interesting  inspection  of  the  character  of  the 
soil;  we  had  advanced  exactly  7000  paces  from  the  ex- 
tremity of  the  rock,  and  on  looking  into  the  holes  I  could 
see  that  the  ferruginous  swamp-ore  was  here  covered  by  a 
homogeneous  layer  of  grey  sandy  soil,  ten  feet  in  thickness. 
These  steppes  are  scarcely  at  all  above  the  level  of  the 
Gazelle,*  and,  consequently,  from  July  to  the  end  of  the 
rainy  season  they  are  constantly  under  water ;  traces  of  the 
inundation  were  apparent  in  the  empty  shells  of  the  water- 
snail  (AmpuUaria)  that  were  scattered  about,  and  in  the 
pools  I  found  some  of  the  little  tortoises  {Pelomedusa  gehafie, 
Eiipp.)  that  have  their  home  in  the  Gazelle  itself. 

On  the  following  day  we  crossed  the  territory  of  the 
Dwuihr;  the  country  retained  the  same  character  of  level 
steppe  broken  by  clumps  of  trees,  but  in  consequence  of  the 
recent  showers  the  roads  in  parts  had  become  quite  marshy 
There  were  many  detached  huts  scattered  about. 

As  we  advanced,  our  attention  was  attracted  by  a  herd  of 
hartebeests  sporting  together  scarcely  500  paces  from  our 
path,  and  apparently  quite  unconscious  of  the  proximity  of  a 
caravan  nearly  half  a  league  in  length.  So  regular  were 
their  evolutions  as  almost  to  suggest  the  idea  that  they  were 
being  guided  by  some  invisible  hand;  they  ran  in  coupler 
like  the  horses  in  a  circus,  and  kept  going  round  and  round 
a  clump  of  trees,  whilst  the  others  stood  in  groups  of  three 


*  The  barometer  gave  an  altitude  of  1396  feet  here,  and  about  the  same  at 
two  other  points  on  our  route  to  the  Me&hura,  but  as  these  were  only  singk- 
readings  I  cannot  vouch  for  their  accuracy.  Readings  at  the  Meshera  taken 
in  1869,  and  repeated  in  1871,  gave  1452  feet  as  the  lieight  there. 


464  THE  HEART  OF  AFRICA. 

or  four  intently  watching  them ;  after  a  time  these  in  turn 
took  their  place,  and,  two  at  a  time,  ran  their  own  circuit  in 
the  same  fashion.  How  long  these  movements  might  have 
continued,  I  cannot  say  ;  but  my  dogs  soon  afterwards  made 
a  dash  in  amongst  the  antelopes  and  sent  them  flying  in  all 
directions.  The  circumstance  that  I  have  now  related  may 
ap[)ear  somewhat  incredible ;  but  I  can  only  say  that  I  had 
ample  time  to  witness  it,  and  that  I  was  as  much  surprised 
at  it  as  my  readers  can  possibly  be.  I  can  only  imagine,  in 
explanation,  that  it  was  pairing-time,  and  that  the  animals 
were  blind  to  all  external  danger. 

I  remembered  that  I  had  witnessed  something  similar, 
three  months  previously,  upon  the  Dyoor.  A  party  of  three 
of  us  were  rambling  over  a  plain  covered  with  short  grass, 
when  we  saw  two  little  Hegoleh-bocks  (A.  Madoqua)  chasing 
each  other  upon  one  side  of  us ;  they  kept  up  that  peculiar 
grunting  that  belongs  to  their  kind ;  a  moment  after,  and 
they  were  on  the  other  side  of  us  ;  in  another  moment  they 
were  back  again;  and  by  watching  them  we  found  that 
they  kept  making  a  circle  round  the  spot  on  which  we 
were  standing,  and,  although  we  shouted  and  tried  to  scare 
them,  they  persisted  in  twice  more  performing  their  circuit 
about  us. 

Our  next  task  was  to  cross  a  swampy  brook  overgrown 
with  the  Habbas-mimosa,  and  the  Bongo  bearers  made  a 
diversion  in  the  day's  proceedings  by  instituting  a  hattue  in 
the  long  steppe-grass  in  which  they  succeeded  in  killing 
four  ichneumons. 

The  following  section  of  our  march  was  through  bush- 
thickets  abundant  in  pools ;  and,  to  judge  by  the  numerous 
traces  that  we  noticed,  it  must  have  been  a  district  that  was 
much  frequented  by  elephants. 

The  ever-recurring  swamps  seriously  impeded  our  third 
morning's  march,  which  was  across  the  forest  of  the  Alwady. 
The  first  villages  that  we  reached  belonged  to  the  district  of 


A  CATTLE-RAID.  465 

Teng  Teng;  here  we  deviated  from  the  road  that  led 
directly  towards  the  Meshera,  and  turned  eastwards  through 
more  populous  parts,  hoping  that  provisions  might  be 
foraged  up  with  less  difficulty  for  the  large  troop  of  bearers. 
The  natives,  according  to  their  wont,  withdrew  as  we  ap- 
proached, so  that,  although  the  region  was  really  well  culti- 
vated and  thoroughly  inhabited,  it  was  now  quite  deserted : 
and  the  large  murah  belonging  to  a  Dinka  chief  named  Dal 
Kurdyook  was  reduced  to  a  condition  hardly  better  than  a 
wilderness,  except  that  the  well-kept  soil  was  covered  with 
some  hundreds  of  the  great  wooden  pegs  that  are  used  for 
tethering  the  cattle. 

Hardly  was  the  baggage  down  from  off  the  bearers'  backs 
before  the  command  was  issued  for  a  cattle-raid.  Off  and 
away  was  every  one  who  had  arms  to  carry.  Unless  meat 
could  be  had,  the  bearers  must  starve.  There  was  no 
corn  left ;  and  as  to  grubbing  in  the  earth  for  roots,  the 
days'  journeys  were  far  too  arduous  to  permit  any  extra 
fatigue  for  such  a  purpose.     Meat  must  be  got. 

It  was  a  strange  sensation,  and  sufficiently  unpleasant,  to 
find  myself  left  alone  with  my  few  helpless  servants  in  the 
deserted  murah;  the  Dinka  might  fall  upon  us  at  any 
moment;  and  against  their  thousands  what  chance  had 
we  ?  In  the  course,  however,  of  little  more  than  an  hour 
my  suspense  was  at  an  end.  The  marauders  had  made  good 
use  of  their  time,  and  now  came  back  in  triumph  with 
fifteen  cows  and  200  sheep  and  goats.  The  leader  of  the 
band  had  the  reputation  of  being  one  of  the  most  adroit 
hands  at  cattle-stealing  that  the  Khartoom  companies  had 
ever  had  in  their  service,  seeming  to  put  his  party,  almost 
by  iustinct,  upon  the  right  track  for  securing  their  prey. 
His  experience  made  him  quite  aware  that  the  bulk  of  the 
herds  had  all  been  cleared  far  away  from  the  murahs  and 
despatched  to  the  most  inaccessible  of  the  swamps  of  the 
Tondy ;  they  had  had  twenty-four  hours'  start,  and  it  was 

Vol.  II.— 32 


466  THE  HEAKT  OF  AFRICA. 

useless  for  a  caravan,  with  its  own  baggage  to  look  after, 
to  think  of  going  in  pursuit  of  them.  Still,  one  thing  was 
certain ;  although  all  the  large  herds  were  gone,  yet  there 
must  have  been  cows  with  their  calves  that  were  left  behind 
for  the  support  of  the  households  that  were  in  hiding  close 
in  the  neighbourhood ;  against  these  the  plot  was  laid,  and 
succeeded  by  a  very  simple  stratagem.  The  marauders 
marched  out  a  little  way  to  the  south,  turned  short  off  into 
the  forest,  and  then,  having  arranged  themselves  in  a  semi- 
circle embracing  the  murah,  proceeded  in  unbroken  line 
right  through  the  bush,  driving  everything  before  them.  The 
result  was,  that  within  half  a  league  of  the  place  of  encamp- 
ment the  whole  of  the  reserve  of  Dal  Kurdyook's  cows,  as 
well  as  other  animals,  fell  into  the  hands  of  Ghattas's  people. 
A  portion  of  the  sheep  and  goats  was  spared  to  be  driven 
onwards  with  us  to  the  Meshera,  but  all  the  rest  were  slain 
and  consumed  off-hand  the  very  night  on  which  they  were 
captured.  Such  a  wholesale  slaughter,  or  such  a  lavish 
feasting,  as  took  place  in  Dal  Kurdyook's  murah  I  never 
witnessed  before  or  since.  When  we  took  our  departure  on 
the  following  morning  the  layer  of  white  ashes  that  covered 
the  ground  was  literally  dyed  with  the  blood  of  the  victims. 

On  the  fourth  day  of  our  march,  at  a  spot  near  the  resi- 
dence of  Kudy,  we  re-entered  our  former  road.  The  country 
was  alternately  wood  and  cultivated  land.  It  was  enlivened 
by  numerous  hamlets,  and  altogether,  although  it  was  neither 
rocky  nor  undulated,  it  had  a  general  aspect,  to  which  the 
detached  clumps  of  trees  contributed,  not  unlike  Bongolaud. 

Kudy  was  a  Dinka  chief,  a  close  ally  of  Ghattas's  ma- 
rauders, and  one  of  those  characters,  not  uncommon  in 
Central  Africa,  who  have  gained  an  inglorious  notoriety  for 
their  treachery  and  infidelity  to  their  own  countrymen.  How- 
he  managed  to  maintain  his  position  in  the  place  after  his 
confederates  had  taken  their  departure,  I  cannot  imagine,  as 
his  authority  did  not  in  the  least  extend  beyond  the  imme- 


KUDY  AND  TAKE.  467 

diate  vicinity.  The  incidental  meeting  of  our  party  with 
their  ally  of  course  put  it  into  their  heads  to  set  out  on 
another  cattle-raid,  and  Kudy  was  appointed  to  the  com- 
mand. He  had  only  to  lead  them  out  for  a  couple  of  leagues 
to  the  south-west  of  his  residence  to  a  region  where  Ghattas 
some  years  ago  maintained  a  Seriba,  and  the  object  was 
effectually  accomplished.  Quite  early  in  the  day  they  came 
back  with  an  immense  number  of  sheep  and  goats,  and 
nearly  every  bearer  had  a  kid  upon  his  shoulders.  The 
quantity  of  corn,  however,  was  very  insignificant.  Every- 
thing was  done  in  the  quietest  way  possible ;  there  was  not 
the  least  excitement.  The  people  were  so  accustomed  to 
these  raids  that  the  execution  of  them  was  quite  a  matter 
of  routine. 

On  the  following  morning  we  reached  the  murah  of  Take, 
another  Dinka  chief,  and  while  we  made  a  halt  our  people 
effected  yet  another  raid.  Just  as  on  the  previous  day,  the 
produce  in  the  way  of  corn  was  next  to  nothing,  but  large 
numbers  both  of  goats  and  sheep  were  driven  in,  the  whole 
of  which  were  killed  and  cooked  forthwith  for  the  benefit  of 
the  soldiers  and  bearers. 

In  spite  of  the  good  understanding  that  existed  between 
the  Khartoomers  and  both  these  chieftains,  every  village 
throughout  the  district  was  utterly  deserted,  and  with  the 
exception  of  the  families  of  Take  and  Kudy  themselves 
we  did  not  see  a  single  human  being. 

The  march  of  the  sixth  day  led  us  through  the  territory 
of  the  Eek,  a  district  remarkable  for  its  wide  sandflats.  All 
along  I  had  noticed  that  the  pasture-lands  were  cropped  so 
closely  by  the  cattle  that  it  might  almost  be  fancied  that 
they  had  been  mown  with  a  scythe ;  but  although  the  grass 
was  so  short,  it  had,  in  consequence  of  the  recent  rains,  a 
bright  green  look  that  was  very  refreshing. 

Next  day  at  noon  we  encamped  beneath  the  sycamore 
by  the  wells  of  Lao.     By  some  misunderstanding  my  people 


468  THE  HEART  OF  AFRICA. 

had  come  to  the  conclusion  that  we  were  to  halt  here  for  the 
night.  Accordingly  they  unpacked  all  my  things,  and  I 
was  about  settling  myself  in  an  empty  hut  when  the  tidings 
were  told  that  the  caravan  had  already  renewed  its  march. 
By  the  time  that  I  was  again  prepared  to  proceed  the  whole 
train  was  out  of  sight,  so  that  under  the  guidance  of  a  man 
who  knew  the  proper  route  we  had  to  follow  in  the  rear  as 
rapidly  as  we  could.  While  we  were  on  our  way  a  violent 
storm  came  up  from  the  west,  and,  bursting  over  our  heads, 
soon  put  the  whole  locality  under  water.  To  add  to  our  dis- 
comfort, our  road  happened  to  be  through  a  wood  and  it  was 
growing  dusk,  so  that  we  had  to  go  on  stumbling  into  the 
continuous  puddles,  that  were  often  very  deep.  In  getting 
through  these  places  I  was  at  a  great  disadvantage;  my 
heavy  boots  prevented  me  from  keeping  up  with  the  light 
ambling  trot  of  the  natives,  as  I  had  constantly  to  stop  and 
pull  on  first  one  and  then  the  other,  as  they  were  half- 
dragged  off  my  feet  by  the  tenacious  clay.  Except  a  genuine 
African  traveller,  no  one  could  imagine  what  ponderous 
lumps  of  mud  stuck  to  the  soles. 

As  we  toiled  along  through  the  miry  forest  in  the  thick 
of  the  drenching  rain,  we  were  startled  by  hearing  a  volley 
of  firearms  in  the  direction  of  the  caravan.  Pitiable  as  had 
been  our  plight  before,  we  felt  it  was  worse  than  ever 
now;  we  did  not  doubt  but  that  the  party  in  advance  had 
been  attacked  in  retribution  by  the  ill-treated  Dinka.  With 
throbbing  hearts  we  reached  the  outskirts  of  the  wood,  every 
moment  expecting  to  catch  sight  of  the  enemy  who  would 
cut  us  off  at  once  from  the  main  procession ;  but  seeing  the 
fires  burning  hospitably  in  the  neighbouring  villages  we  were 
soon  reassured,  and  on  rejoining  our  people  found  that  the 
sounds  that  had  alarmed  us  had  been  caused  simply  by  the 
soldiers  discharging  their  guns  so  that  they  might  not 
become  foul  through  the  charges  getting  damp. 

Early  next  day,  the  eighth  of  our  march,  long   before 


KEMAINS  OF  SHOL'S  VILLAGE.  469 

reaching  the  spot,  we  saw  the  tall  columns  of  smoke 
rising  from  the  murah  of  our  old  friend  Kurdyook,  the 
husband  of  the  murdered  Shol,  and  on  approaching  had 
the  satisfaction  of  surveying  the  scene,  which  had  long 
been  strange  to  us,  of  a  well-filled  cattle-park.  The  very 
lowing  of  the  herds  was  a  welcome  sound.  Kurdyook  himself 
soon  appeared,  and  expatiated  in  very  bitter  terms  upon  the 
lamentable  fate  of  his  wife.  We  passed  close  to  the  spot 
where  her  huts  had  stood,  and  where  our  caravan  had  been 
so  hospitably  entertained  on  taking  leave  of  her.  The  great 
Kigelia  alone  remained  undisturbed  in  its  glory  ;  the  resi- 
dence was  a  heap  of  ashes,  and  there  was  nothing  else  to 
tell  of  poor  old  Shol's  former  splendour  than  the  strips  and 
shreds  of  a  great  torn  spirit-flask. 

Very  little  rain  had  fallen  here.  The  river  had  scarcely 
risen  at  all ;  we  were  able  consequently  to  get  down  with 
dry  feet  to  the  edge  of  the  Meshera,  where,  about  noon,  we 
were  conveyed  across  to  the  little  island  upon  which  the 
Khartoomers  pitched  their  camp.  Between  Ghattas's  Seriba 
and  this  spot  I  had  counted  216,000  paces,  showing  that  the 
entire  distance  we  had  walked  was  about  eighty  miles. 

Except  that  the  island  which  served  for  the  landing-place 
had  been  completely  cleared  of  trees  the  general  appearance 
of  the  Meshera  during  the  last  two  and  a  half  years  had 
undergone  little  alteration;  the  growth  of  the  papyrus  had 
diminished  rather  than  otherwise,  and  the  am  batch  was  still 
altogether  wanting. 

Not  only  attacks  from  the  neighbouring  tribes  of  the 
Afok  and  Alwady,  but  continuous  outbreaks  of  cattle- 
plague  had  decimated  the  herds  left  by  Shol,  and  there  had 
been  a  great  scarcity  of  corn.  Boats,  however,  laden  with 
durra  had  arrived  from  Khartoom,  and,  as  a  considerable 
portion  of  it  was  consigned  to  me,  I  availed  myself  of 
the  opportunity  to  start  a  flourishing  business  with  the 
natives,  who   in   exchange  for  the  corn  brought  me  milk 


470  THE  HEART  OF  AFRICA. 

enough  to  make  into  butter.  The  milk  was  conveyed  to  me 
in  separate  bottle-gourds,  and  in  order  that  I  might  get  five 
pounds  of  butter  I  had  to  dole  out  in  small  quantities  as 
much  corn  as  would  fill  a  wine-cask. 

Before  setting  sail  I  had  a  good  deal  of  squabbling  with 
Ghattas's  people.  I  did  not  want  to  be  brought  into  the 
close  quarters  which  the  limits  of  a  boat's  deck  necessitated 
with  either  lepers  or  slaves,  and  protested  that  if  I  did  not 
shoot  the  first  that  came  on  board,  I  would  at  least  take  good 
care  to  report  them  to  the  Government.  My  endeavours  in 
this  way  to  secure  my  comfort  were  very  far  from  being  so 
successful  as  I  wished,  I  had  previously  written  to  Kur- 
shook  Ali  to  engage  the  same  boat  which  had  brought  him 
into  the  country  to  carry  me  back  to  Khartoom,  making  it 
an  express  stipulation  that  the  boat  should  not  convey  any 
slaves.  We  had  come  to  terms,  and  everything  was  ap- 
parently quite  settled,  when  it  turned  out  that  the  boat 
was  not  going  to  return  until  late  in  the  year.  To  defer 
my  departure  so  long  was  out  of  the  question.  Slaves  or 
no  slaves,  it  was  all-important  to  me  to  be  at  Kiartoom  as 
soon  as  possible ;  and  when  I  found  that  Ghattas's  people 
were  this  year  going  lo  ship  only  a  limited  number,  I  came 
to  the  resolution  that,  under  the  circumstances,  I  would  take 
my  chance  with  them.  I  knew  that  Sir  Samuel  Baker  was 
on  the  Upper  Nile,  and  did  not  doubt  that  his  presence 
would  have  the  effect  of  making  the  Government  take  the 
most  strenuous  measures  against  any  import  of  slaves.  1 
represented  as  strongly  as  I  could  to  the  people  the  danger 
they  were  incurring  by  having  such  property  on  board,  but 
I  miglit  just  as  well  have  remonstrated  with  the  winds.  In 
spite  of  all  I  could  say  twenty-seven  slaves  were  shipped, 
not  avowedly  as  slaves,  but  so  nearly  in  that  capacity  as  at 
once  to  bring  them  under  suspicion  of  being  destined  for 
the  market.  Undesirable  as  their  company  was,  still  I  was 
thankful  to  be  free  from  contact  with  any  lepers ;  making 


MY  OWN  SLAVES.  47 1 

the  best,  therefore,  of  an  unpleasant  business,  I  went  on 
board  on  the  afternoon  of  the  26th  of  June. 

I  confess  that  I  felt  a  little  tongue-tied,  through  not  being 
myself  entirely  free  from  blame.  I  could  not  deny  that  I 
had  three  slaves  of  my  own :  these  were  Tikl^itikki  the 
Pygmy,  Allagabo  the  Bongo,  and  Amber  the  Niam-uiam. 
The  other  Niam-niam  youth  I  left  behind  in  the  Seriba, 
after  having  gained  him  his  freedom  and  seen  him  duly 
admitted  into  the  Mohammedan  sect  by  circumcision,  the 
only  means  by  which  his  social  position  could  be  secured. 
With  regard  to  these  lads  I  profess  I  had  not  the  least 
squeamishness  in  carrying  them  away  with  me,  and  I  felt 
none  of  that  misgiving  which  other  travellers  have  expressed 
when  they  have  been  tempted  to  a  like  proceeding.  I  felt 
that  I  could  not  leave  them  to  a  doubtful  fate  after  they 
had  been  serving  me  ftiithfuUy  for  nothing,  and  attending  me 
for  two  whole  years  in  the  desert ;  and  I  had  no  kind  of  idea 
that  I  was  reducing  myself  to  the  level  of  a  slave-dealer 
by  determining  to  retain  them  and  to  introduce  them  to 
European  civilisation,  for  if  I  left  them  behind  I  was  quite 
aware  that  they  would  be  immediately  consigned  to  the 
ordinary  lot  of  slavery.  Eather  was  I  disposed  to  compare 
myself  with  those  noble-minded  Orientals  who,  although 
they  look  upon  the  regular  slave-dealer's  calling  as  the  vilest 
and  most  degrading  of  all  professions,  yet  do  not  consider 
the  possession  of  slaves  to  be  in  itself  illegitimate  or  incon- 
sistent with  the  purest  morality. 

It  may  be  well  to  transcribe  here  my  original  diary  of  the 
passage  down  the  Gazelle.  It  will  not,  I  believe,  be  without 
interest,  if  it  be  only  to  show  that  the  length  of  the  river  has 
hitherto  been  much  exaggerated  on  all  previous  maps : — 

"  June  26^^. — Sailed  for  about  four  hours,  until  evening, 
along  the  Kyt.  A  light  breeze.  The  Kyt  channel  from  eight 
to  ten  feet  deep  ;  its  bottom  one  great  mass  of  valisneria. 


472  THE  HEAET  OF  AFRICA. 

"  ^Ith. — Dull,  cloudy  day.  A  contrary  N.N.E.  wind  has 
prevented  us  from  getting  beyond  the  mouth  of  the  Dyoor. 

"  28</i. — Slow  progress,  on  account  of  the  continued  N.N.E. 
wind.  In  the  afternoon  a  more  favourable  breeze.  The 
boat's  crew  affirm  that  after  passing  the  mouth  of  the 
Dyoor  the  water  becomes  whiter.  I  cannot  say  that  I  can 
perceive  any  difference ;  the  water  is  clear  and  colourless, 
and  free  from  any  flavour  of  the  swamps,  as  if  it  had  been 
distilled.  Elephants  to  be  seen  marching  about  the  shore, 
considerably  in  front  of  the  demarcation  line  made  by  the 
trees.  To  the  west  of  the  channel  are  columns  of  smoke 
from  some  adjacent  murah.  Acacia-forests  (none  of  the 
trees  more  than  forty  feet  high)  line  both  sides  of  the  land 
subject  to  inundation ;  nowhere  do  these  exceed  a  width  of 
two  miles.  We  proceed  through  clumps  of  ambatch,  and 
make  a  wide  bend  to  the  west  round  an  island  which  the 
sailors  call  Gyerdiga.  Continued  sailing  at  night  under  a 
good  west  wind. 

"29^A. — Quite  early  at  a  place  where  the  river  is  not 
500  feet  across ;  the  contracted  spot  enclosed  by  bush-forest. 
Soon  afterwards  we  pass  the  mouth  of  the  Bahr-el-Arab. 
There  is  a  favourable  breeze  from  the  south-east.  In  the 
afternoon  we  reach  the  first  Nueir  villages.  Some  of  the 
great  Balsenice]ps  rex  are  standing  on  the  white  ant-hills ; 
have  they  been  there  ever  since  I  last  saw  them  there,  two 
years  and  more  ago?  At  evening  a  negro  is  dying  from 
dysentery ;  according  to  custom,  the  poor  creature  is  thrown 
overboard  before  life  is  really  extinct.  I  fear  my  own 
feelings  of  satisfaction  at  getting  home  again  make  me 
somewhat  callous  to  this  horrible  proceeding. 

"  ZOth. — A  clouded  sky,  and  the  wind  contrary.  We  heave- 
to  in  a  backwater  that  is  overgrown  with  grass  for  seventy- 
five  feet  from  either  bank :  a  solitary  doom-palm  marks  the 
spot.  Again  sail  on  throughout  the  night,  the  breeze  having 
once  more  become  favourable. 


DOWN  THE  GAZELLE.  473 

"  July  Isi. — At  8  o'clock  a.m.  pass  the  Nueir  villages,  at 
which  we  stayed  for  a  day  on  our  passage  out.  It  is  unsafe 
to  land  now ;  a  Vokeel  of  Kurshook  All's  was  murdered  not 
long  since.  The  district  is  full  of  bushes;  white  ant-hills 
and  low  acacia-hedges  are  frequent.  A  hippopotamus  is 
leaning  against  a  great  stem  upon  the  bank ;  we  approach 
within  thirty  paces  of  the  flesh-coloured  brute,  but  it  makes 
no  attempt  to  get  into  the  water.  A  bullet  is  fired,  but 
seems  to  take  no  effect ;  the  great  beast  totters  about  as 
though  it  needed  support.  All  the  crew  assert  that  it  is 
hopelessly  ill,  and  has  gone,  as  usual,  on  the  land  to  die ;  no 
one,  however,  explains  why  it  still  stands  upright.  Large 
herds  of  Dinka  cattle  graze  on  the  northern  bank.  Towards 
evening  we  arrive  at  the  lake-like  opening  by  the  mouth  of 
the  G-azelle,  where  the  water  is  a  mile  across.  A  tremendous 
gale  gets  up  from  the  N.N.E. ;  the  boat  is  tossed  about 
on  the  muddy  bottom  of  the  river  and  dashed  against  the 
floating  islands  of  grass.  The  mast  and  sail-yards  creak  as 
though  they  must  snap  in  two;  the  boatmen  shout  according 
to  their  habit,  but  the  Reis  cannot  join  them  because  he  is 
hoarse  with  a  cold.  There  is  an  incessant  invocation  of  the 
saints  of  the  Nile :  a  mingled  outcry  of  '  ya  Seyet,  ya  Sheikh 
Abd-el-kader,  Aboo  Seyet,  ya  Sheikh  Ahmed-el-Nil.' 

"  2nd. — A  good  west  wind  ca'rries  us  betimes  past  the 
mouth  of  the  Gazelle.  I  am  surprised  to  find  the  floating 
grass  in  almost  the  same  condition  as  in  the  winter  of  1869  ; 
the  water,  however,  is  higher  now,  and  consequently  the 
entrance  to  the  main  stream  is  easier." 

From  these  contemporary  notes  it  will  at  once  be  inferred 
that  the  entire  length  of  the  Gazelle  was  navigated  by  us  in 
four  and  a  half  days  of  very  moderate  sailing.  If  the  stream 
is  from  136  to  140  miles  long,  as  nearly  all  the  existing 
maps  have  represented  it,  we  must  have  sailed  at  a  rate  of 
about  thirty  miles  a  day ;  but  for  my  part  I  feel  sure  that. 


474  THE  HEART  OF  AFRICA. 

this  estimate  of  our  speed  must  be  reduced  by  at  least  one- 
quarter. 

All  the  comfort  of  our  future  progress  was  marred  by  the 
incessant  plagues  of  flies,  and  all  its  regularity  was  inter- 
rupted by  the  same  grass-obstructions  that  had  impeded 
us  on  our  former  voyage.  Before  we  could  enter  the  side 
channel  known  as  the  Maia  Signora,  we  had  to  make  our 
way  by  a  narrow  cut  of  water  that  rushed  along  like  a 
wild  brook,  and  forced  itself  through  the  masses  of  vegeta- 
tion on  either  side  of  the  river,  which  here,  I  should  suppose, 
was  about  half  a  mile  wide.  The  depth  of  the  fairway  varied 
from  six  feet  to  eight  feet,  and  the  boat  nowhere  touched 
the  bottom.  The  best  plan  that  I  can  devise  for  rendering 
the  stream  permanently  navigable  would  be  to  erect  dams 
at  certain  intervals,  and  it  appears  to  me  that  the  small 
depth  of  water  would  render  the  project  far  from  difficult  of 
accomplishment. 

We  spent  the  3rd  in  sailing  along  the  channel  of  the 
Maia  Signora,  which  was  300  feet  in  width.  Towards 
evening  we  re-entered  the  main-stream.  At  night  we  con- 
tinued to  drift  along,  borne  gradually  onward  by  the  slow 
current ;  but,  in  case  of  being  surprised  by  sudden  gusts  of 
strong  wind,  we  did  not  hoist  a  sail.  The  open  channel  was 
about  500  feet  in  width,  but  on  the  northern  side  it  was 
divided  from  the  actual  shore  by  a  growth  of  grass  that  was 
scarcely  less  than  3000  feet  across.  The  morning  brought 
us  in  sight  of  the  huts  in  the  Shillook  district  of  Tooma. 

A  horrible  association  will  be  for  ever  linked  to  my 
memories  of  that  night.  Dysentery  is  a  disorder  to  which 
the  negroes,  on  changing  their  mode  of  living,  are  especially 
liable,  and  an  old  female  slave,  after  long  suffering,  was  now 
dying  in  the  hold  below.  All  at  once,  probably  attacked 
by  a  fit  of  epilepsy,  she  began  to  utter  the  most  frightful 
shrieks  and  to  groan  with  the  intensest  of  anguish.  Such 
sounds  I  had  never  heard  before  from  any  human  being,  and 


A  HY^NA-WOMAN.  475 

I  hardly  know  to  what  I  may  compare  them,  except  it  be  to 
the  unearthly  yells  of  the  hyaenas  as  they  prowl  by  night 
amidst  the  offal  of  the  market-towns  of  the  Soudan.  Begin- 
ning with  a  kind  of  long-drawn  sigh,  the  cries  ended  with 
the  shrillest  of  screams,  and  were  truly  heartrending.  From 
my  recess  in  the  bow  of  the  boat,  that  was  partitioned  off 
by  a  screen  of  matting,  I  could  not  see  what  was  going  on, 
and  conscious  that  I  was  quite  powerless  to  accomplish  any 
alleviation  for  the  sufferer,  I  tried  to  shut  out  the  me- 
lancholy noise  by  wrapping  myself  closely  round  in  my  bed- 
clothes. Presently  I  was  conscious  of  the  sound  of  angry 
voices ;  then  came  a  sudden  splash  in  the  water  amidst 
the  muttered  curses  upon  the  "  marafeel "  (the  hyaena),  and 
all  was  still.  The  inhuman  sailors  had  laid  hold  upon  the 
miserable  creature  in  her  death-agonies,  and,  without  waiting 
for  her  to  expire,  had  thrown  her  overboard.  In  their  own 
minds  they  were  perfectly  convinced  that  she  was  a  witch  or 
hysena-woman,  whose  existence  would  inevitably  involve  the 
boat  in  some  dire  calamity. 

It  was  about  five  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  when  we  passed 
the  mouth  of  the  Gazelle.  Nearly  all  next  day  a  contrary 
north  wind  prevailed,  and  was  so  strong  that  we  were  obliged 
to  put  in  upon  the  right-hand  bank.  From  the  spot  where 
we  lay-to  I  counted  as  many  as  forty  villages  on  the  opposite 
shore.  The  district  was  called  Nelwang,  and  the  whole 
of  the  surrounding  region  belonged  to  the  once  powerful 
Shillook  chieftain  Kashgar,  now  no  longer  formidable,  as  lie 
had  lately  been  reduced  to  subjection  and  his  entire  dominion 
converted  into  a  regular  Egyptian  province.  Of  this  altered 
condition  of  things  we  had  received  no  intelligence,  and 
consequently  we  were  in  no  little  trepidation  when  we  saw 
the  natives  crossing  the  river  in  large  numbers  just  above 
the  place  where  we  were  stopping.  But  we  need  not  have 
been  under  any  apprehensions.  It  was  soon  manifest  that 
the   Shillook   party   had   no   hostile   intentions,   and   were 


476  THE  HEART  OF  AFRICA. 

o-athered  together  merely  lor  a  hunting-excursion  in  the 
forests  beyond  the  right  bank  of  the  river. 

On  observing  the  crowd  of  Shillooks  our  first  impulse 
had  been  to  make  our  way  into  the  middle  of  the  stream. 
It  was  past  noon,  and  we  were  intently  watching  the  move- 
ments of  the  hunters,  when  our  attention  was  suddenly 
attracted  by  four  men,  dressed  in  white,  shouting  and  ges- 
ticulating to  us  from  the  opposite  bank.  We  could  not 
imagine  what  Mohammedans  were  doing  in  this  part  of  the 
country,  and  without  loss  of  time  pushed  across  and  took 
the  men  on  board.  They  proved  to  be  Khartoom  boatmen 
sent  by  the  Mudir  of  Fashoda  to  inform  us  that  his  camp  was 
close  at  hand,  and  that  it  was  requisite  for  all  boats  coming 
down  the  river  to  stop  there  and  submit  to  a  rigid  investi- 
gation as  to  what  freight  and  passengers  they  were  carrying. 
Our  long  sail-yard  had  been  observed  from  the  camp,  and 
active  measures  had  been  immediately  taken  to  prevent  us 
from  continuing  our  voyage  without  undergoing  the  pre- 
scribed scrutiny.  , 

We  had  not  long  to  wait  before  an  unaccustomed  surging 
of  the  water  made  us  aware  that  a  steamer  was  quite  close 
upon  us ;  in  a  few  moments  more  the  "  Remorquer,"  No.  8, 
was  alongside,  and  a  rope  thrown  out  by  which  we  had  to  be 
towed  down  to  the  camp. 

However  elated  I  might  be  at  the  prospect  of  being  now 
so  soon  restored  to  intercourse  with  men  of  a  higher  grade 
than  those  with  whom  I  had  been  long  associated,  I  must 
confess  that  this  our  first  greeting  from  the  civilized  world 
rather  jarred  upon  my  sensibilities,  and  in  the  sequel  resulted 
in  some  bitter  disappointment. 

For  nearly  a  couple  of  hours  we  were  quietly  towed  down 
the  river  until,  at  a  spot  just  above  the  mouth  of  the  Sobat, 
we  came  to  a  side  arm  of  the  main  stream,  called  the  Lollo. 
Turning  off  abruptly  into  this  we  found  ourselves  proceeding 
in  a  direction  that  was  quite  retrograde  as  compared  with 


FANEKAMA.  •  477 

that  in  which  we  had  just  come,  and  in  another  couple  of 
hours  reached  the  Mudir's  temporary  camp  in  the  district  ol' 
Fanekama.  His  force  consisted  of  400  black  soldiers,  fifty 
mounted  Baggara,  and  two  field  guns. 

The  Lollo  flows  almost  parallel  to  the  main-stream  at  a 
distance  varying  from  a  quarter  of  a  league  to  two  leagues. 
It  is  said  to  be  about  eighteen  leagues  in  length  ;  its  current 
is  extremely  weak,  and  its  depth  from  ten  to  fifteen  feet ;  in 
many  places  it  was  from  800  to  1000  feet  in  width,  and  con- 
sequently at  this  season  as  wide  as  the  main-stream  itself: 
during  the  winter,  however,  it  dwindles  down  to  a  mere 
shallow  khor. 

The  little  steam-tug  was  an  iron  boat  of  24  horse-power : 
its  sides  were  so  eaten  up  by  rust  that  they  were  like  a  sieve, 
and  the  decrepit  old  captain,  almost  as  worn-out  as  his  vessel, 
was  everlastingly  patching  them  up  with  a  compound  of 
chalk  and  oil.  Besides  this,  there  were  lying  off  Fanekama 
three  G-overnment  boats  and  two  large  "negger"  belonging 
to  Agahd's  company  that  had  come  from  the  Meshera 
Elliab  on  the  Bahr-el-Ghazal ;  these  had  been  conveying  no 
less  than  600  slaves,  all  of  whom  had  been  confiscated. 
Notwithstanding  that  Sir  Samuel  Baker  was  still  on  the 
upper  waters  of  the  river,  the  idea  was  quite  prevalent  in 
all  the  Seribas  that  as  soon  as  "the  English  pasha"  had 
turned  his  back  upon  Fashoda,  the  Mudir  would  relapse  into 
his  former  habits,  levy  a  good  round  sum  on  the  head  of 
every  slave,  and  then  let  the  contraband  stock  pass  without 
more  ado.  But  for  once  the  Seriba  people  were  reckoning 
without  their  host.  The  Mudir  had  been  so  severely  repri- 
manded by  Baker  for  his  former  delinquencies  that  he 
thought  it  was  his  best  policy,  for  this  year  at  least,  to  be  as 
energetic  as  he  could  in  his  exertions  against  the  forbidden 
trade ;  and  his  measures  were  so  summary,  and  executed 
with  such  methodical  strictness,  that  unless  I  had  known 
him  I  could  scarcely  have  believed  him  to  be  a  Turk.     He 


478  THE  HEART  OF  AFRICA. 

>vas  now  especially  anxious  to  show  off  his  authority  before 
me  as  the  first  witness  who  would  have  the  power  of  reporting 
his  activity  and  decision  to  the  world  at  large. 

The  first  thing  was  to  get  all  slaves  whatever  carried  on 
shore,  that  is  to  say  all  who  were  black  and  who  were  not 
Mohammedans;  no  distinction  was  made  in  favour  of  such 
as  had  come  after  having  already  been  in  Khartoom,  although 
they  might  have  been  reported  in  the  list  of  the  crews  that 
had  worked  the  boats  up  the  river. 

Among  the  600  slaves  now  brought  in  Agahd's  boats 
there  were  representatives  of  no  less  than  eighteen  different 
tribes.  The  small-pox,  however,  had  raged  so  frightfully 
among  them  that  fear  of  contagion  alike  for  myself  and 
my  people  deterred  me  from  taking  advantage  of  the 
unusual  opportunity  offered  for  ethnographical  investiga- 
tion. It  must  not  be  supposed  that  these  600  slaves  had 
been  the  only  passengers  on  Agahd's  boats ;  in  addition 
to  them  there  had  been  200  Nubians,  and  thus  it  may 
be  imagined  that  the  most  crowded  cattle-pens  could  hardly 
have  been  more  intolerable  than  the  vessels  throughout 
their  voyage. 

Many  of  the  black  soldiers  under  the  Mudir's  command, 
recruited  as  they  had  been  at  Khartoom  from  slaves  pre- 
viously confiscated,  made  very  fair  interpreters  to  assist  in 
classifying  the  new  arrivals  according  to  their  race  and 
nationality.  Everything  about  the  slaves  had  to  be  regis- 
tered. Their  number,  the  number  of  tribes  that  they  repre- 
sented, their  age,  their  sex,  the  way  they  had  been  purchased, 
the  place  where  they  had  been  captured,  the  circumstances 
under  which  they  had  fallen  into  the  hands  of  the  Khar- 
toomers,  and  all  particulars  of  this  sort  had  to  be  entered  in 
a  book.  Then  each  of  the  Nubians  was  separately  questioned 
about  his  own  home,  his  name,  his  rank,  his  trade  or  pro- 
fession, the  number  of  his  slaves,  and  the  price  he  had  paid 
for  them  respectively ;  to  each  of  the  traders  there  was  then 


A  MINUTE  INVESTIGATION.  47'J 

handed  a  copy  of  his  own  affidavit,  to  which  he  was  obliged 
to  affix  his  seal. 

An  inventory  was  next  taken  of  all  property,  so  that  it 
might  be  retained  at  the  pleasure  of  the  Government,  guns, 
ammunition,  and  ivory  being  expressly  specified.  The  three 
Arab  clerks  entered  into  such  minute  details,  and  made  their 
reports  so  prolix,  that  it  was  necessary  for  them  to  apply  an 
amount  of  patient  industry  of  which  I  could  hardly  have 
believed  them  capable. 

Besides  these  notaries  the  Mudir  kept  a  number  of  smiths 
and  carpenters  perpetually  employed  in  the  fabrication  of 
the  iron  fetters  and  wooden  sheybas  to  bind  the  Reis  and  all 
the  men  that  were  not  absolutely  indispensable  for  the  navi- 
gation of  the  boat.  Every  possible  precaution  seemed  to  be 
taken,  and  even  seals  were  made  for  the  use  of  those  who 
had  none  of  their  own  with  which  to  attest  their  affidavits. 
It  took  two  days  to  complete  our  inspection ;  but  when  it 
came  to  an  end,  three  soldiers  were  sent  on  board  as  a  guard, 
and  we  were  allowed  to  proceed.  Free  from  the  polluted  air 
of  Fanekama,  I  began  to  feel  that  I  could  breathe  again. 

A  day  and  a  half  brought  us  to  Fashoda,  where  I  was 
equally  surprised  and  gratified  to  hear  of  a  kindness  that 
had  been  intended  to  be  shown  me.  Dyafer  Pasha,  the 
Governor-General,  immediately  on  hearing  of  the  destitute 
condition  in  whicli  I  had  been  left  by  the  burning  down  of 
Ghattas's  Seriba,  had  despatched  to  me  such  a  munificent 
supply  of  provisions  of  every  description  as  would  liave  kept 
me  well  for  months  not  only  with  the  means  of  subsistence, 
but  with  many  of  the  elegancies  of  a  civilised  life.  Had  this 
liberal  contribution  reached  me  before  I  left  Bongoland,  I 
think  I  should  have  been  vastly  tempted  to  defer  my  return 
to  Europe  for  another  year  ;  but  it  was  not  to  be  ;  the  sup- 
plies had  been  placed  under  the  charge  of  a  company  of 
soldiers  who  were  going  up  the  Gazelle  to  reinforce  the 
troops  already  stationed  in  Dar  Ferteet ;  but  the  change  of 


480  THE  HEART  OF  AFRICA. 

wind  and  the  condition  of  the  water  had  delayed  their  pro- 
gress till  it  was  too  late  to  proceed,  and  they  had  been  obliged 
to  stay  at  Fashoda  until  the  commencement  of  the  winter. 

The  condition  of  the  unfortunate  slaves  had  become  far 
worse  since  their  confiscation ;  the  very  measures  that  ought 
to  have  ameliorated  their  lot  had  been  but  an  aggravation 
of  their  misery.  The  supply  of  corn  was  rapidly  coming  to 
an  end ;  they  had,  in  fact,  hardly  anything  to  eat,  and  the 
soldiers  on  guard  never  dreamed  of  making  the  least  exer- 
tion to  provide  in  any  way  for  their  needs,  resorting  to  the 
use  of  the  kurbatch  much  more  freely  than  their  former 
masters,  who  had  now  lost  whatever  interest  they  might  liave 
had  in  their  welfare. 

My  powers  of  endurance  were  sorely  tried.  Incessant  on 
the  one  hand  were  the  murmurs  and  complaints ;  incessant 
on  the  other  were  the  scoldings  and  cursings.  If  some  luck- 
less negro  happened  to  be  blessed  with  a  tolerably  good  and 
robust  constitution  so  that  he  kept  fat  and  healthy  under  all 
his  hardships,  he  was  continually  being  made  a  laughing- 
stock and  jeered  at  for  being  "  a  tub ;  "  if,  on  the  contrary, 
a  poor  wretch  got  thin  till  he  was  the  very  picture  of  misery, 
he  was  designated  a  "hytena,"  and  perpetually  bantered 
on  account  of  his  "  hysena-face."  I  used  to  have  wliole 
kettles  full  of  rice  and  maccaroni  boiled  for  the  poor  crea- 
tures, but  it  was,  of  course,  utterly  beyond  the  compass  of 
my  resources  to  do  much  towards  supplying  their  wants. 

On  approaching  the  district  of  Wod  Shellay,  we  perceived 
countless  masses  of  black  specks  standing  out  against  the 
bright  coloured  sand.  They  were  all  slaves!  The  route 
from  Kordofan  to  the  east  lay  right  across  the  land,  and  was 
quite  unguarded  ;  the  spot  that  we  now  saw  was  where  the 
caravans  are  conveyed  over  the  river  on  their  way  to  the 
great  de2>6t  at  Mussalemieh.  Once  again  did  the  sight 
remind  me  of  Katherine  II.'s  painted  villages  in  South  Eussia, 
although  this  time  in  a  somewhat  different  sense. 


AERIVAL  AT  KHAETOOM.  481 

At  length  towards  sunset,  on  the  21st  of  July,  we  reached 
the  Ras-el-Khartoom.  Our  entire  journey  from  the  Meshera 
had  been  accomplished  in  twenty-five  days,  six  of  which  had 
been  consumed  in  stoppages  at  Fanekaina,  Fashoda,  and 
Kowa.  Upon  the  whole  I  congratulated  myself  on  getting 
so  quickly  to  the  end  of  the  trouble.  With  a  quickened 
pulse  I  set  out  alone  on  foot  for  the  town.  Evening  was 
drawing  on,  and  although  I  met  numbers  of  people,  there 
was  no  one  to  recognise  me ;  in  my  meagre  white  calico 
costume  I  might  easily  have  passed  for  one  of  those  homeless 
Greeks,  who,  without  a  place  to  rest  their  heads,  have  been 
forced  to  seek  their  fortune  in  the  remotest  corners  of  the 
earth.  I  made  my  way  at  once  to  a  German  tailor  named 
Klein,  who  had  been  living  for  some  years  in  Khartoom,  and 
'"'  by  the  vigorous  prosecution  of  his  trade  had  contributed  in 
no  small  degree  towards  the  promotion  of  external  culture  in 
the  town.  He  soon  provided  me  with  some  civilised  gar- 
ments, and  I  felt  myself  fit  to  make  my  appearance  before 
my  old  friends,  at  least  such  as  remained,  for  some  I  grieved 
to  learn  were  dead,  and  others  had  left  the  place. 

I  found  Khartoom  itself  much  altered.  A  large  number 
of  new  brick  buildings,  a  spacious  quay  on  the  banks  of  the 
Blue  Nile,  and  some  still  more  imposing  erections  on  the 
other  side  of  the  river,  had  given  the  place  the  more  decided 
aspect  of  an  established  town. '  The  extensive  gardens  and 
rows  of  date-palms  planted  out  nearly  half  a  century  back, 
had  now  attained  to  such  a  development  that  they  could  not 
be  altogether  without  influence  on  the  climate ;  in  spite  of 
everything,  however,  the  sanitary  condition  of  Khartoom 
was  still  very  unsatisfactory.  This  was  entirely  owing  to 
the  defective  drainage  of  that  portion  of  the  town  that  had 
been  built  below  the  high-water  level.  In  July,  when  I  was 
there,  I  saw  many  pools  almost  large  enough  to  be  called 
ponds  that  could  never  possibly  dry  up  without  the  appli- 
cation of  proper  means   for  draining   them    off;    stagnant 

Vol.  II.— 33 


482  TH1-:  HEAET  OF  AFRICA. 

under  the  tropical  sun,  they  sent  forth  such  an  intolerable 
stench  that  it  was  an  abomination  to  pass  near  them.  When 
it  is  remembered  that  Khartoom  is  situated  in  the  desert- 
zone  (for  the  grassy  region  does  not  begin  for  at  least  150 
miles  farther  to  the  south)  there  can  appear  no  necessary 
reason  why  it  should  be  more  unhealthy  than  either  Shendy 
or  Berber  ;  all  that  is  wanted  is  that  the  sanitary  authorities 
should  exercise  a  better  management  and  see  that  stagnant 
puddles  should  be  prevented. 

As  I  have  already  intimated,  I  found  that  not  a  few  of  my 
former  acquaintances  during  my  absence  had  fallen  victims 
to  the  fatal  climate  ;  but  no  loss  did  I  personally  deplore 
more  than  that  of  the  missionary  Blessing,  who  died  just  a 
fortnight  before  my  arrival ;  Herr  Duisberg  had  left  Kliar- 
toom,  and  since  his  departure  Blessing  had  managed  all  my ' 
affairs,  and  it  was  from  him  that  I  had  received  my  last 
despatches  in  the  negro-countries.  I  found  his  young  widow 
perfectly  inconsolable,  and  the  sight  of  her  grief  made  me 
feel  doubly  what  a  blank  his  death  had  left. 

On  the  day  after  my  arrival  I  telegraphed  to  Alexandria 
to  announce  my  safe  return.  The  message  reached  its  des- 
tination in  the  course  of  two  days ;  the  charge  for  twenty 
words  was  four  dollars.  The  telegram  had  to  be  written  in 
Ai'abic,  and  in  the  compressed  yet  lucid  form  of  that  lan- 
guage ran  as  follows : — "  German  Consulate-General,  Alex- 
andria. Arrived  July  21st.  Telegraph  to  Braun  at  the 
Berlin  Academy  that  he  may  inform  my  mother.  Nothing 
else  necessary."  The  telegraph  had  only  been  established 
•  luring  the  last  few  months,  and  as  yet  was  scarcely  in  full 
working  order.  The  oflScials  were  young  and  inexperienced 
at  their  work,  and  the  direct  line  of  communication  was 
broken  in  two  places  by  the  messages  having  to  be  conveyed 
across  the  river;  as  a  further  defect,  the  Morse  system  was 
partially  in  use,  and  it  was  only  beyond  Assouan  that  the 
ni  edle-system  had  been  adopted.     Except  for  the  conciseness 


MY  SERVANTS'  DILEMMA.  483 

of  its  forms  of  expression,  Arabic  is  extremely  unsuitable  for 
telegraph)  ;  the  deficiency  of  vowel  symbols  makes  proper 
names  all  but  undecipherable  to  any  one  who  is  previously 
unacquainted  with  them.  But  with  all  its  temporary  short- 
comings, the  establishment  of  the  telegraph  will  ever  rank 
as  pre-eminent  amongst  the  services  rendered  by  the  Govern- 
ment of  Ismail  Pasha. 

Dyafer  Pasha,  to  whom  I  was  so  much  indebted  for  his 
liberal  intentions  on  my  behalf,  received  me  with  his  unfail- 
ing cordiality,  and  gave  me  a  lodging  in  one  of  the  Govern- 
ment buildings  that  was  at  his  disposal ;  but  notwithstanding 
all  his  generosity  to  myself  I  could  not  feel  otherwise  than 
very  much  hurt  at  the  unscrupulous  manner  in  which  he 
acted  towards  my  servants.  Their  faithfulness  to  myself  had 
made  me  much  interested  in  them,  and  I  now  felt  intensely 
annoyed  when  I  found  that,  without  any  communication  with 
me,  they  had  been  seized,  thrust  into  irons,  and  set  to  work 
in  the  galleys,  leaving  me  witli  no  one  but  my  three  negro 
lads,  and  without  the  services  of  anybody  who  knew  how  to 
cook.  The  fact  was  that,  although  I  had  not  been  made 
acquainted  with  it,  they  had  been  in  possession  of  some  slaves 
on  their  own  account,  representing  them  as  being  consigned 
to  their  care  by  friends  in  the  upper  district,  who  wanted  to 
forward  them  to  their  homes.  It  was,  I  found,  quite  out  of 
my  power  to  prevent  the  controllers  of  the  diiferent  Seribas 
all  along  my  route  from  making  presents  of  slaves  to  my 
servants;  any  protest  on  my  part  was  always  practically 
useless,  and  only  tended  to  produce  an  irritating  disagreement 
between  us.  At  the  time  of  our  embarkation  at  the  Mesliera 
I  imagined  that  they  were  accompanied  only  by  the  wives  of 
two  of  them,  one  of  their  children,  and  two  voting  boys  who 
had  been  so  long  with  them  that  I  quite  regarded  theiu  as 
a  recognised  part  of  their  belongings ;  but  it  turned  out  in 
reality  that  they  had  no  less  than  fifteen  slaves,  which  they 
were  surreptitiously   ':'arrying    with    tln-m.     The    whole   lot 


484  THE  HEART  OF  AFRICA. 

were  now  confiscated  in  one  common  batch;  no  distinction 
was  made — men,  wives,  and  children  were  all  included  in  the 
general  fate.  This  was  as  illegal  as  it  was  unjust,  for  every 
slave  who  has  borne  any  children  is  reckoned  as  a  wife, 
.ilthough  there  may  have  been  no  regular  marriage. 

Four  separate  appeals  did  I  take  the  trouble  to  make  to 
the  Pasha  for  the  emancipation  of  my  servants.  Even  at 
last  my  success  was  only  partial,  for  I  could  not  obtain  the 
restitution  of  freedom  either  to  the  women  or  the  children, 
although  their  confiscation  had  been  specially  illegal.  The 
Pasha  was  on  the  point  of  starting  for  Egypt,  but  I  could 
not  permit  any  circumstance  of  the  kind  to  prevent  my 
doing  everything  in  my  power  to  assist  my  servants,  who  had 
shown  such  fidelity  for  a  period  of  three  years.  1  could  not 
find  it  in  my  heart  to  leave  them  to  fight  out  their  cause 
for  themselves  with  the  arbitrary  and  disorderly  adminis- 
tration that  I  knew  well  enough  would  follow  the  Pasha's 
departure.  I  resolved,  therefore,  to  take  the  men  on  with 
me  to  Cairo.  I  incurred  a  considerable  extra  expense  by 
travelling  with  so  large  a  retinue  ;  but  I  would  not  be 
daunted,  and  after  a  world  of  trouble  I  succeeded  ultimately 
in  obtaining  redress  for  their  grievances. 

I  told  the  Pasha  that,  grateful  as  I  was  for  all  his  hos- 
pitality and  kindness  to  myself,  I  could  not  help  being 
extremely  annoyed  at  the  trick  that  had  been  played  me. 
Nothing,  I  assured  him,  could  obliterate  the  impression  that 
he  had  looked  upon  me  as  an  easy  dupe :  his  proceedings  in 
this  respect  were  quite  an  insult.  I  gave  him  my  opinion 
that  if  he  wanted  to  suppress  the  slave-trade  he  must  see 
that  the  laws  were  carried  out  all  over  the  country,  and  not 
merely  along  the  river.  Repressive  measures,  that  were 
enforced  at  isolated  and  uncertain  intervals,  were  of  no  use 
at  all,  and  only  served  to  inflame  the  population  with  in- 
creased hatred  to  the  Franks.  For  what  good,  I  asked  him, 
was  it  to  lay  an  embargo  upon  the  boats  when  (to  take  only 


EXPOSTULATION.  485 

one  example)  the  Mudir  of  Kordofan  quietly  allowed  the 
slave-trade  to  be  carried  on  in  his  province  to  such  an  extent 
that  in  a  single  year  no  less  than  2700  slave-dealers  had 
made  their  way  to  Dar  Ferteet ;  and  whilst  they  were  there 
not  only  had  the  Egyptian  commander  raised  no  objection 
to  their  proceedings,  but  had  so  far  coalesced  with  his  officers 
as  practically  to  become  a  professional  slave-dealer  himself. 

The  ill-feeling  and  smothered  rage  against  Sir  Samuel 
Baker's  interference,  nurtured  by  the  higher  authorities, 
breaks  out  very  strongly  amongst  the  less  reticent  lower 
ofiScials.  In  Fashoda,  and  even  in  Khartoom,  I  heard  com- 
plaints that  we  (the  Franks)  were  the  prime  cause  of  all  the 
trouble,  and  if  it  had  not  been  for  our  eternal  agitation  with 
the  Viceroy  such  measures  would  never  have  been  enforced. 
Yet  they  need  to  be  instructed  that  it  was  never  the  in- 
tention either  of  VVilberforce  or  any  of  our  modern  philan- 
thropists that  men  should,  under  any  pretext,  be  robbed  of 
their  wives,  or  parents  of  their  children,  or  even  that  slaves 
sliould  be  wrested  from  the  hands  of  the  traders  merely  to 
be  distributed  amongst  the  soldiers,  or  to  be  compelled  to 
become  soldiers  themselves.  And,  as  I  pointed  out  to  the 
officials,  the  very  reproaches  they  made  tended  to  lower  the 
Viceroy,  just  because  they  implied  that  his  commands  were 
only  influenced  by  external  pressure  from  foreign  Powers.  I 
tried  further  to  make  them  see  that  it  was  quite  impossible 
for  any  ruler  to  maintain  proper  authority  unless  his  sub- 
ordinates, whose  duty  it  was  to  support  him,  did  their 
utmost  to  contribute  to  his  dignity. 

On  the  9th  of  August  I  once  again  took  my  passage  on 
board  a  Nile  boat,  this  time  under  more  comfortable  and  less 
ambiguous  circumstances.  With  a  fiivourable  wind  and  high 
water  our  voyage  was  very  rapid.  On  the  fourth  day  we 
reached  Berber.  Here* I  found  excellent  quarters  in  the 
house  of  my  friend  Vasel,  and  for  the  first  time,  after  many 
months,    had   the    enjoyment   of    intercourse    with,   a   well- 


486  THE  HEART  OF  AFRICA. 

educated  fellow-countryman.  Vasel  had  been  a  benefactor  to 
the  land  by  erecting  a  large  portion  of  the  telegraph  lately 
opened  between  Assouan  and  Khartoom,  and,  in  spite  of 
his  exertions  in  a  climate  that  had  been  fatal  to  so  many 
Europeans,  had  hitherto  enjoyed  unbroken  health. 

The  deaths  during  the  last  fever-season  had  been  more 
than  usually  numerous.  In  Khartoom,  in  1870,  almost  all 
the  resident  Europeans  had  been  fatally  attacked,  and 
amongst  them  Dr.  Ori,  the  renowned  Italian  zoologist,  after 
successfully  withstanding  the  deleterious  atmosphere  for  ten 
successive  years.  Soon  afterwards  Thibaud,  the  head  of  the 
French  vice-consulate,  was  carried  to  the  grave,  followed  in 
the  course  of  a  week  by  the  whole  of  his  family.  He  had 
spent  forty-three  years  of  his  life  at  Khartoom ;  as  an  asso- 
ciate of  Arnaud's,  and  in  company  with  Werne  and  Sabatier, 
he  had  taken  part  in  the  memorable  expedition  that  in  1841 
was  sent  out  by  Mehemet  Ali  to  discover  the  sources  of  the 
Nile,  and  in  the  prosecution  of  their  task  ascended  as  f;ir 
as  Gondokoro.  To  the  melancholy  death  of  Blessing  I  have 
already  referred ;  and  now,  on  reaching  Berber,  I  learnt  that 
my  old  friend  Lavargue  had  succumbed  to  fever  only  a  short 
time  before  my  arrival.  He,  too,  had  been  residing  i'nr 
many  years  in  the  Soudan. 

And  now  the  next  to  go  was  my  little  Tikkitikki.  He 
had  for  some  time  been  marked  by  the  unsparing  hand  of 
death,  and  here  it  was  during  my  stay  at  Berber  that  I  had 
to  mourn  his  loss.  At  Khartoom  he  had  been  taken  ill  with 
a  severe  attack  of  dysentery,  probably  induced  by  change 
of  air  and  very  likely  aggravated  by  his  too  sumptuous  diet. 
His  disorder  had  day  by  day  become  more  deeply  seated  ;  my 
care  in  nursing  seemed  to  bring  no  alleviation,  and  every 
remedy  failed  to  take  effect ;  he  became  weaker  and  weaker, 
till  his  case  was  manifestly  hopeless,  and,  after  lingering 
three  weeks,  sunk  at  last  from  sheer  exhaustion. 

Never  before,  I  think,  had  I  ever  felt  a  death  so  acut(  Iv  ; 


START  FOR  SAUKIN.  487 

my  grief  so  weakened  and  unmanned  me  that  my  energies 
flagged  entirely,  so  that  I  could  scarcely  walk  for  half  an 
hour  without  extreme  fotigue.  Since  that  date  two  yeais 
have  passed  away,  but  still  the  recollection  of  that  season  ol' 
bitter  disappointment  is  like  a  wound  that  opens  afresh. 

The  other  two  negro-boys,  according  to  my  intention, 
were  to  be  playmates  and  companions  for  my  little  Pygmy  ; 
but  now  that  he  had  been  taken  from  me  I  took  measures  to 
provide  for  them  in  a  different  way.  The  elder  one,  Amber, 
a  true  Niam-niam,  I  left  behind  in  Egypt,  under  the  care  of 
my  old  friend  Dr.  Sachs,  the  celebrated  physician  of  Cairo ; 
my  little  Bongo,  Allagabo  Teem,  was  taken  to  Germany  for 
the  purpose  of  receiving  a  careful  education. 

I  was  delayed  in  Berber  by  the  sad  circumstances  of  my 
little  -proteges  death ;  but  independently  of  that,  my  stay  was 
prolonged  by  waiting  for  a  courier  who,  by  the  orders  of  his 
Highness  the  Khedive,  was  on  his  way  to  meet  me.  The 
German  Consul-General  Von  Jasmund,  with  his  accustomed 
solicitude  for  all  who  were  in  any  way  entrusted  to  his 
protection,  had  procured  me  this  favour.  Fearing  that  I 
should  be  in  want,  he  had  commissioned  the  courier  to  bring 
me  money,  medicines,  arms,  and  clothing  of  all  description. 
Meanwhile  I  had  amply  provided  myself  at  Khartoom  with 
everything  of  which  I  stood  in  need,  and  was  consequently 
anxious,  if  I  could,  to  stop  the  progress  of  the  envoy.  It 
was,  however,  several  days,  even  with  the  help  of  the  tele- 
graph, before  I  could  find  out  how  far  he  had  advanced,  or 
could  succeed  in  countermanding  his  orders. 

On  the  10th  of  September  I  was  ready  to  start  for  Suakin. 
The  route  that  I  took  was  the  same,  through  the  valleys  o\ 
Etbai,  by  which  I  had  journeyed  on  starting  three  years 
previously.  My  little  caravan  consisted  now  but  of  thirteen 
people.  By  the  help  of  fourteen  camels  we  accomplished 
the  journey  in  a  fortnight,  without  any  misadventure.  Once 
again  I  was  in  sight  of  the  sea.     It  was  with  the  truest 


488  THE  HEART  OF  AFRICA. 

interest  that  I  regarded  the  faithful  few  tliat  were  round  about 
me,  and  as  I  looked  down  i'rom  the  sumiuit  of  the  Attaba, 
3415  feet  high,  that  enabled  me  to  gaze  beyond  the  inter- 
vening stretch  of  land  to  Suakin  and  to  catch  the  extended 
Jeep-blue  line  of  sea,  my  feelings  could  be  understood  by 
none  except  by  a  wanderer  who,  like  myself,  had  been 
lingering  in  the  depths  of  an  untraversed  country.  On  the 
26th  of  September  I  embarked  at  Suakin,  and  after  a 
pleasant  voyage  of  four  days  landed  at  Suez ;  by  the  2nd  ol' 
November  I  had  reached  Messina. 

Thus,  after  an  absence  of  three  years  and  four  months,  I 
was  once  again  upon  the  soil  of  Europe. 


APPENDIX  I. 


TABLE  OF  HEIGHTS  OF  VAEIOUS  POINTS  VISITED 
DUEING  THE  JOUENEY. 

(Computed  by  Dr.  Wilhelm  Sciiur.) 

During  my  journey  I  made  use  of  th.ree  aneroids,  all  of  which 
I  brought  back  safe  to  Europe  ;  they  were  subsequently  most 
carefully  tested  under  various  conditions  of  temperature  and 
pressure  by  Dr.  Wilhelm  Schur,  who  undertook  to  estimate  and 
reduce  to  standard  measure  the  various  observations  I  had  made. 
I  here  append  only  the  final  results  of  his  investigations,  but 
for  more  complete  details  I  would  refer  to  the  Journal  of  the 
Geographical  Society  of  Berlin  (vol.  viii.,  p.  228),  where  he  has 
described  at  length  his  method  for  ascertaining  the  proper 
corrections  of  my  registries,  after  allowing  for  the  variations 
from  the  mean  condition  of  the  barometer. 

I  very  rarel}'  failed  three  times  in  the  course  of  a  day  to  note 
the  readings  of  the  aneroids,  but  these  numerous  observations 
were  only  entered  in  my  diary,  and  consequently  perished  with 
the  rest  of  my  papers  in  the  conflagration  of  the  2nd  of  December, 
1870;  only  those  observations,  therefore,  that  were  made  subse- 
quently to  that  ill-fated-day,  and  a  few  others  that  were  sent 
home  promiscuously  in  my  correspondence,  were  available  for 
Dr.  Schur 's  deductions. 

But  altogether  the  following  figures  will  suffice  to  give  very 
approximately  a  true  conception  of  the  heights  of  the  regions 
that  I  visited,  and  it  may  be  of  some  interest  to  compare  the 
resiilts  with  those  obtained  during  the  geometrical  surve}'  that 
is  requisite  for  the  formation  "^^f  the  proposed  railway  between 
Suakin  and  Berber.* 


*  The  position  of  this  district  with  regard  to  the  points  of  thc'  compass  may- 
he  seen  in  the  map  of  the  road  from  Suakin  to  Uerber,  which  I  published  in 
vol.  XV.  of  Petermann's  '  Geographical  Coiainunications,'  Table  J 5.     18G9. 


490 


THE  IIEAIIT  OF  AFItlCA. 


In  tlie  approximate  heights  given  below,  Dr.  Sthur  has  reck- 
oned 25  meters  as  being  equivalent  to  about  82  English  fret. 

A. — Points  between  the  Eed  Sea  and  the  Nile  on  thk  Roau 

FROM    SUAK'IN   TO    BekBEK. 


Heislit  above  the  sea. 


1  Three  hours  W.  of  Suakin,  I 

2  Tamarisk  wood,  7^  hours  \V.  of  Suakin. 

3  Wady  Teekhe,  lU  hours  W.  of  Suakin. 

4  First  Attaba  (pass),  13  hours  W.  of  Suakin; 

5  At  the  pools  in  the  valley  between  the  i 

two  Attabas. 

6  Second  Attaba,  highest  pass.  | 

7  Upper  Wady  Gabet,  below  the  Attaba.     j 

8  Singat,  summer  camp  in  the  great  Valley  ; 

ofOkwak.  I 

9  Wady    Sarroweeb,    4   hours    E.S.E.    of  I 

Singat.  1 

10  Wad}"   Harrassa  in  Erkoueet,  8  hours 

E.S.E.  of  Singa*-,  near  the  summer  camp. 

11  At  the  base  of    the    high  hill  of  Erko-  I 

weet,  on  the  N.  side.  i 

12  Summit  of  the  hill  of  Erkoweet.  ' 

13  2  hours  W.  of   Singat,   1  hour  from  0- 

Mareg,  E.  of  the  small  pass.  | 

14  3^  hours  W.  of  Singat,  W.  of  the  small 

pass. 

15  0-Mareg,  summer  camp  in  the  valley. 

16  Small  Wady,  3  hours  W.  of  the  Mareg, 

in  front  of  the  pass. 

17  Near  the  wells  in  Wady  A  met. 

18  On  the  S.  slope  of  the  W.  end  of   the 

mountain  O-Kurr,  5  hours  W.  of   the 
wells  of  Araet. 

19  Small  Wady,  an  hour  W.  of  Wady  Ai'ab. 

20  Grassy  Wady  W.  of    Wady  Arab,    an 

hour  from  the  great  khor-bed. 

21  Near  the  wells  in  Wady  Kamot-Atai. 

22  Wady  4  hours  E,  of  Wady  Habob. 

23  Wady  Diraehadeet. 

24  Wady  Habob,  eastern  arm. 

25  Wady  Habob,  western  arm. 

26  Wady  Kokreb,  camping-place,  1871. 

27  Wady  Kokreb,  camping- place  S.  of  last. 

28  Great    Wady,     an    hour   W.  of    Wady 

Kokreb. 


212 
544 

618 
924 

913 

1041 

925 

941 

1037 

1137 

1250 
1676 

1007 

1072 
971 

949 
810 


803-3 
739-9 


762-5 
735-3 
705-6 
717-5 
741-0 
600-2 
694-5 
597-6 


657-0 


Kiig.  ft. 

6'J5 
1785 
2030 
3033 

2996 
3415 
3037 

3088 

3404 

3732 

4101 
5499 

3304 

3518 
3188 

3115 

2658 


2635 
2427 

2501 
2412 
2314 
2354 
2431 
1969 
2278 
1960 

2155 


APPENDIX  I. 


491 


20  5^  hours  W.  of  small  isolated  hill  near 
Wady  Derumkad  (Upper  AVaily 
Yumga) 

30  Wady  Ynmga. 

31  Wady  Derumkad.  i 

32  Small  isolated  hill,  an  hour  W.  of  Wady  ' 

Derumkad. 

33  Valley  near  the  acacias    S.  of  the  wells 

of  Koway. 

34  Below  the  small  pass  above  the  Wady 

Laemeb. 

35  End    of  rising;    ground   in    the     upper 

Wady  Laemeb. 

36  In  the  middle  of  Wady  Laemeb. 

37  In  the  middle  of  ^^  ady  Laemeb. 

38  In  the  lower    Wady  Laemeb.  2    hours 

E.  of  0-Feek. 

39  Wady  at  the  foot  of  the   hill  0-Feek, 

southern  side. 

40  2  hours   E.    of  the     bush-forest    at  0- 

Baek. 

41  0-Baek,  bush-forest  near  the  wells. 

42  Eain-pool,  2  hours  W.  of  0-Baek. 

43  5i  hours  W.  of  0-Baek. 

44  Wady  Eremit,  camping  place  in  1871. 

45  \\  ady  Eremit,  camping  place  in  18G8. 

46  Depression  in  Wady  A  boo  Kolod. 

47  Wady  Darrowreeb  or  Derrteb. 

48  Wady  Aboo  Zelem. 

49  Pools  of  Aboo  Tagger,   2+  hours  E.  of 

Berber  (el  Mekherif), 

50  Town  of  Berber  (el  Mekherif)  30  feet 

above  the  hiuhest  level  of  the  Nile. 


Hcigbt  above  the  sea. 

Metera. 

Eng.  ft. 

650-0 

2132 

587-6 

1'.27 

i81-4 

190. 

578-0 

1896 

590-2 

1936 

580-1 

19*03 

532-8 

1748 

574-6 

1885 

513-9 

1(.8G 

458-8 

1505 

•498-6 

1635 

508-2 

1667 

476-3 

1562 

459-0 

1506 

438-8 

1439 

464-4 

1523 

446-0 

1463 

399-8 

1311 

414-U 

1359 

42-2 

1483 

403-6 

1324 

417-0 

1368 

B.— PoxNis  ON   I  HE  Nile  between  Lat.  9°  and  18°  N. 


1  Above  Wolled  Bassul  (from  the  boat). 

2  Town  of  Matamnia  (from  the  boat). 

3  Town  of  Shendy  (from  the  boat). 

4  Town  of   Khartoora,   20  feet  above  the 

highest  level  of  the  Blue  Nile. 

5  Meshera,  on  the  island  on  the   Kyt.  the 

extremity  of  the  Bahr-el-Ghazal. 


Height  at  ove 

the  sea.. 

Metors. 

Kiig.  U. 

399  -  7 

1319 

404-4 

1326 

408-8 

1341 

407-2 
442-7 


1336 
1452 


492  THE  HEART  OF  AFRICA. 

C. — Points  in  the  Bahr-el-Ghazal  District. 


Height  above  the  sea. 


1  Ghattas's  chief  Seriba  in  Dyoor-land. 

2  Knrshook   Ali's    chief    Seriba     on   the 

Dyoor. 

3  Agahd's  small  Seriba  Dubor,  in  Bt)ngo- 

land. 

4  A  boo   Gnroon's  small  Seriba  Danga  in 

Bongoland. 

5  Bizelly's  small   Seriba  Doggaya-mor  in 

Bongoland. 

6  Idrees  Wod  Defter's  Seriba  in  the  Golo 

district. 

7  Seebehr  Eahama's   chief    Seriba   in   tlie 

Kredy  district. 

8  Dehm  Gudyoo,  Agahd's  Seriba. 

9  On  the  brook  Gulanda  between   Dehm 

Gudyoo  and  Dehm  Bekeer.  ' 

10  Dehm  Bekeei',  Knrshook  Ali's  Seriba.        j 

11  Dehm    Adlan,   Seebehr  Adlan's   Seriba  ' 

the  Sebre  district. 

12  Agahd's     small     Seriba     Ngulfala,     in  I 

Bongoland.  j 

13  Agahd's  small  Seriba  Moody,  in  Bongo-  | 

land.  I 

14  Take's  residence  in  the  Dinka  country,     j 


Meters. 

471-2 

Eng.  it. 

1545 

542-1 

1778 

565-5 

1854 

543-7 

1783 

554-5 

1818 

703-6 

2306 

696-0 
846  3 

2282 
2775 

729-1 
771-0 

2391 

2528 

747-1 

2450 

681-0 

1905 

575-0 
426-5 

1886 
1399 

D. — Point  beyond  the  Nile  District. 


1  Mnnza's  residence  in  Monbuttoo  land, 
Aboo  Sammat's  Seriba. 


Height  above  the  sea. 
Meters.  Eng.  It. 


825-4 


2707 


APPENDIX   II. 


BIGHT  ITINERARIES  IN  ILLUSTRATION  OF  THE 
DISTRICTS  TO  THE  SOUTH  AND  WEST  OF  MY 
ROUTE. 


A.  — Iduees  Wod  Defter's  RoijTE  to  the  W.S.W,  kkom  Dehm 

GUDVOO. 

First  day. — Four  hours  1o  the  village  of  the  Kredy  chief 
Mangirr,  on  Agahd's  territory. 

Second  day. — Six  or  seven  leagues  to  some  Kredy  hamletn  still 
on  Agahd's  territory. 

Third  day. — Long  day's  march  of  seven  or  eight  hours  to  the 
deserted  villages  of  a  former  Kredy  chief,  named  Koiye. 

Fourth  day. — Eight  leagues  across  an  uninhabited  district; 
night  in  the  wilderness. 

Fifth  day. — Seven  leagues  to  a  small  Seriba  belonging  to 
Idrees  Wod  Defter  on  Mount  Berangah. 

Sixth  day. — Seven  or  eight  leagues  across  an  inhabited  district 
to  the  chief  Seriba  of  Idrees  Wod  Defter,  situated  on  a  river 
tlowing  to  the  north-west-  The  Kredy  tribes  of  the  district  are 
called  Bia  and  Mehre  ;  thu  local  chief  is  named  Gariaongoh. 

Seventh  day. — Five  hours'  march  to  the  west  to  a  subsidiai}- 
Seriba  belonging  to  Idrees,  called  Adya,  after  the  Kredy  tribe  of 
ihe  district. 

Eighth  day. — Long  day's  march  of  eight  or  nine  leagues  across 
the  wilderness. 

Ninth  day. — Half  a  day's  march  to  Idrces's  most  westerly 
Seriba  in  Dar  Benda,  of  which  the  chieftain  is  named  Kobbo- 
kobbo.  The  Benda  are  an  independent  nation,  with  their  own 
dialect. 

Tenth  r7a?/.— Seven  or  eight  hours  to  the  gieat  river,  said  to 
flow  here  in  an  easterly  direction,  and  requiiing  to  be  crossed  in 


494  THK  HEART  OF  AFKICA. 

boats  at  all  seasons  ;  the  population  on  the  banks  is  composed 
of  the  ivory-trading  Aboo  Dinga,  and  the  land  is  called  Dar 
Diii"-a,  or  Dar  Aboo  Dinga.  A  king,  known  to  the  Nubians 
by  the  name  of  Ayah,  to  whom  several  cliieftains  are  tributaiy, 
resides  to  the  north-west  of  Idrees  Wod  Defter's  chief  Seriba. 
Dar  Dinga  is  also  the  resort  for  many  slave  caravans  under  the 
management  of  the  great  dealers  from  Darfoor  and  Kordofan. 
The  companies  of  Seebehr  Bahama,  Seebehr  Adlan,  and  Agahd, 
likewise  visit  the  country  to  purchase  ivory  from  the  chieftains. 


B.— YUMMA'S  ROUTE  TO  THE  W.S.W.  FKOM  DEHM 
BEKEER  TO  THE  RESIDENCE  OF  MOFIO. 

First  day. — Six  or  eight  leagues  to  the  last  villages  of  the 
Sehre  :  they  belong  to  Kurshook  All's  territory,  and  tha  Sheikh 
is  named  Sahtsy.  His  residence  is  situated  on  a  small  river, 
named  the  Ville  or  Wille,  that  is  said  to  flow  in  a  north-wesfera 
direction,  and  to  belong  to  the  system^of  the  river  of  Dar  Dinga: 
it  is  at  no  part  of  the  year  less  than  twenty  feet  deep. 

Second  day  to  Eighth  day  (^inclusive). — Seven  long  days'  marches 
over  uninhabited  wildernesses  to  the  borders  of  Mofio's  terri- 
tory, where  his  behnky  Boborungoo  has  his  mbanga. 

Ninth  day. — A  short  march  over  cultivated  land  to  the  residence 
of  the  sub-chieftain  Bakomoro. 

Tenth  day. — A  long  march  mostly  through  wild  forest  to  the 
residence  of  Kanso,  a  behnky  of  Mofio's. 

Eleventh  day. — The  road  turns  to  the  north-v\  est  and  leads  by 
a  long  day's  march  to  the  behnky  Abindee.  A  river  flowing 
towards  the  north  is  crossed  here  ;  it  is  named  the  Ngango,  and 
after  joining  the  Welle  or  river  of  Sahtsy,  flows  into  the  great 
river  of  Dar  Dinga,  farther  to  the  north-west.  In  its  lower 
court-e  the  stream  is  known  as  the  Mboma. 

Twelfth  day. — Half  a  day's  march  to  the  mbanga  of  Gazima, 
the  sub-chieftain  in  command  of  the  district  and  a  brother  of  • 
Mofio's. 

Thirteenth  and  Fourteenth  days. — Two  days'  march  to  the  resi- 
dence of  Mofio,  only  a  good  day's  journey  to  the  south-west  of 
Idrees  Wod  Defter's  chief  Seriba.  The  river  on  which  it  is 
situated  is  said  to  be  called  the  Mbette,  and  to  flow  into  the 
Mboma. 


APPENDIX  II.  495 

C— ROUTE  TO  THE  S.S.E.  FROM  DEHM  BEKEER  TO 
SOLONGOH'S  RESIDENCE. 

First  day. — An  ordinary  day's  marcli  across  the  Nguddurco 
and  the  Djee  (leaving  the  Kokkuloo  hill  on  the  left;  to  the 
brook  Biserry,  which  has  been  followed  by  Nubians,  and  found 
to  join  the  Wow.  Unless  the  rainfall  has  been  very  excessive, 
the  brook  may  be  waded  even  during  tho  Khareef.  Muuut 
Daragumba  lies  about  two  hours  to  the  south  of  the  passage  over 
the  Biserry. 

Second  day. — A  good  day's  march  to  the  south-west  across  the 
wilderness'  to  a  little  brook,  named  the  Kommoh,  said  to  flow 
into  the  Bisei  ry. 

Third  (lay. — The  Dar  (or  inhabited  land)  of  Solongoh's  ter- 
ritory is  reached  towards  evening.  Night  spent  at  the  resi- 
dence of  Karya,  the  chieftain's  behnky  and  brother. 

Fourth  day.~The  road  bends  more  to  the  south,  and  leads  by 
a  long  day's  march  to  the  mbanga  of  another  sub-chieftain, 
named  Ndundo,  also. a  brother  of  Solongoh. 

Fifth  day. — South-west  to  Yagganda,  a  third  brother  and 
behnky  of  the  chieftain.     Mount  Yahre  is  passed  on  the  east. 

Sixth  day. — Across  the  Nomatina  or  Nomatilla,  a  copious  river, 
declared  by  the  Niam-niam  to  be  identical  with  the  Wow,  which 
in  its  lower  course  in  Bongoland  they  call  the  Nomatilla.  Haif- 
a-day's journej^  to  the  mbanga  of  Sclongoh. 

Two  days'  march  to  the  north-east  from  Solongoh  lies  Knr- 
shook  All's  Seriba  Aboo  Shatter,  in  the  land  of  the  Bellanda, 
which  for  the  most  part  belongs  to  Solongoh.  About  half-way 
there  stands  the  residence  of  a  behnky  of  the  chieftain,  named 
Ndimma ;  and  a  day's  journey  north  of  Kurshook  Ali's  settlement 
lives  another  sub-chieftain,  named  Mamah  ;  consequently  the 
Seriba  forms  an  enclave  in  Solongoh's  territory,  Solongoh's 
father  was  named  Borrongboh  or  Bongorboh,  and  was  the  brother 
of  Mofio  and  Zaboora. 


YUMMA'S  ROUTE  TO  THE  SOUTH  FROM  DEHM 
BEKEER  TO  YAFFATY  AND  INGIMMA. 

First  and  Second  day.— Two  days  to  the  S.S.W.,  across  unin- 
habited fiontier  wildernesses. 


496  THE  HEART  OF  AFRICA. 

TJiird  day.— To-wardfi  evening  is  reached  the  residence  of  the 
small  chieftain  Yaffaty  or  Yapaty,  the  son  of  Zaboora,  who  had 
shaken  off  his  allegiance  to  his  brother  Mofio. 

Fourth  day. — A  moderate  day's  inarch  to  the  south  to  the 
1  esidence  of  Bogwa  Eiffio,  a  behnky  and  brother  of  Yaffaty. 

Fifth  day. — Across  the  brook  Mbomoo,  flowing  northwards,  and 
said  to  empty  itself  into  the  Nomatilla,  to  Boggwa  Yango,  a 
sub-chieftain  of  Bombo. 

Sixth  day. — An  ordinary  day's  march  to  the  mbanga  of  the 
powerful  chief  Bumbo.  A  day's  journey  to  the  north-west  is  the 
residence  of  Nembo,  and  about  the  same  distance  to  the  north-east 
that  of  Nzembe,  both  of  these  are  brothers  and  sub-chieftains  of 
Bombo. 

Seventh  and  Eighth  days. — Through  uninhabited    wildernesses. 

Ninth  day. — Across  a  great  navigable  river  said  to  pass  through 
the  territory  of  a  chieftain  named  Sena,  whose  residence  lies  to 
the  east  of  the  route ;  on  this  account  the  Nubians  call  the 
stream  the  river  of  Sena.  By  the  Niam-Niam  it  is  called  the 
Ware. 

Tenth  day. — To  the  residence  of  a  son  of  Ezo  (not  to  be  con- 
founded with  the  chief  of  the  same  name,  who  was  the  father  of 
Ndoruma  and  Ugetto)  on  the  river  of  Sena,  said  to  be  identical 
Avith  the  river  of  Wando  (the  Mbrwole). 

Eleventh  and  Twelfth  days. — Through  inhabited  country,  the 
territory  of  the  old,  decrepit  chieftain  Ezo.  Two  long  marches 
to  the  south  of  the  river  is  the  residence  of  Ingimma,  the  most 
powerful  of  the  sons  of  Ezo. 

Thirteenth  and  Fourteenth  days. — Half-a-day's  piarch  beyond 
Ingimma's  teriitoiy  is  the  great  Eiver  of  Kanna,  known  as  the 
Welle.  After  crossing  the  river  to  the  south  of  Ingimma's 
residence,  that  of  Kanna  is  reached  in  two  days' journey  to  the 
east. 


E.-ADEEAHMAN  ABOO  GUEOON'S  EOUTE  TO  THE 
S.  FEOM  HIS  CHIEF  SEEIBA  TO  THE  NIAM-NIAM 
AND  MONBUTTOO. 

First  day. — Eight  huuis  to  the  south-west  to  Kurshook  Ali's 
Seriba  Nguddo. 

Second  day. — Six  liours  to  the  south  :  night  in  the  wilderness. 


APPENDIX  II.  497 

Third  day. — Half-a-day's  march  to  Aboo  Guroon's  Seriba 
Mabah,  on  the  brook  Lake. 

Fourth  day. — Seven  hours'  march  to  the  S.S.W.  to  Gybel 
Reggeb,  where  Aboo  Guroon  has  his  small  Seriba  Hibboo, 

Fifth  day. — Half-a-day's  march  to  the  south-east  to  the  little 
Seriba  Mbellembey,  the  joint  possession  of  Aboo  Guroon  and 
Ghattas.  The  local  chief  of  the  Bongo  in  Mbellembe}'  is  named 
Ghirrah. 

Sixth  day. — Half  a  day's  march  to  the  south-east  to  Ghattas's 
Seriba  Gebel  Higgoo,  on  the  southern  frontier  of  the  Bongo 
country. 

Seventh  day. — To  the  south-west,  leaving  the  territory  of 
Mundo  (Babuckur)  on  the  east.  Eight  hours  across  the  wilder- 
ness to  Aboo  Guroon's  Seriba  on  the  northern  frontier  of  the 
Niam-niam  country.  The  Seriba  was  under  the  control  of  a 
Niam-niain  slave,  named  Fomboa,  and  was  destroyed  in  1870  by 
Ndoruma.     The  name  of  the  local  chief  was  Ukwch. 

Eighth  day.— To  the  south,  across  the  Sway  (Djoor).  Night- 
camp  in  the  wilderness  on  the  Bikky. 

Ninth  day. — A  long  day's  march  ofaboiat  nine  hours  across  the 
wilderness  to  the  south-west,  to  the  residence  of  Dukkoo,  a  brother 
and  sub-chieftain  of  Ndoruma. 

Tenth  day. — A  long  march  to  the  south  and  west,  the  residence 
of  Mbory,  a  behnky  of  Ndoruma.  Half-way  lies  the  spot  where 
Ndoruma  attacked  and  defeated  the  united  companies  in  1870. 

Eleventh  day. — A  whole  day's  march  to  the  residence  of 
Ndoruma  on  the  Barah,  a  brook  that  is  said  to  empty  itself  into 
the  Bikky.  Ndoruma  is  the  most  powerful  of  the  reigning  sons 
of  Ezo. 

Twelfth  da?/.— Half-a-day's  march  to  the  mbanga  of  Gettwa  or 
Ngetto,  a  brother  of  Ndoruma  and  an  independent  chieftain  ;  his 
lands  lie  to  the  south  of  Ndoruma's. 

TJiirteenth  day  — An  ordinary  day's  march  to  the  south-east,  to 
the  village  of  Mashmany,  a  behnky  of  Ngetto. 

Fourteenth  da?/.— Long  march  to  the  south-east  across  unin- 
habited country. 

Fifteenth  day.—RnU  a  day's  march  to  the  territory  of  Malingdc. 
In  the  middle  of  the  day  is  reached  the  village  of  Owra,  a  son  of 
tlie  wealthy  chieftain. 

Sixteenth  day.— A  whole  day's  march  to  the  south-east,  to  the 
village  of  a  local  overseer  under  Owra,  named  Pazway. 
Vol.  II.— 34 


498  THE  HEART  OF  AFRICA. 

Seventeenth  day. — Half-a-day's  march  to  the  residence  of 
Malingde  or  Marindo,  one  of  the  numerous  sons  of  Bazimbey. 

Eighteenth  day. — A  whole  day's  march  to  the  W.S.W.,  to  the 
residence  of  Malingde's  behnky  Bahzia. 

Nineteenth  day. — A  long  day's  march  to  the  south-east,  to  the 
villages  of  Malingde's  behnky  Yaganda. 

Twentieth  day. — Across  uninhabited  country :  night  in  the 
wilderness. 

Twenty-first  day. — Hal  fa  day's  march  to  the  residence  of 
Wando's  behnky  Bagbatta. 

Twenty-second  day. — A  long  daj's  march  to  the  river  of  Wando 
(Mbrwole) :  night  on  the  banks.  This  stream  is  said  to  pass 
through  the  territories  of  Sena  and  Indimma ;  in  its  lower 
course  it  bears  the  name  of  the  Ware. 

Tw'enty-third  day. — Through  the  remainder  of  the  border 
wilderness  on  to  the  territory  of  Izingerria  (in  Munza's 
dominions)  near  the  villages  of  his  behnky  Dedda. 

Twenty-fourth  day. — Southwards  to  the  numerous  villages  of 
Tzingerria's  territory. 

Twenty-fifth  day. — In  the  same  direction  to  the  residence  of 
one  of  Izingerria's  behnkys. 

Twenty-sixth  day. — A"  short  march  to  the  residence  of  Izin- 
gerria himself. 


F.— AHMED  AWAT'S  EOUTE  TO  THE  S.W.  FEOM 
NDOEUMA  TO  EZO. 

First  day. — A  good  day's  march  to  the  west,  to  the  residence 
of  Ndoruma's  behnky  Komunda. 

Second  day. — In  the  same  direction  to  the  residence  of  Tumafee, 
another  behnky  of  Ndoruma. 

Third  day. — To  the  residence  of  Mbahzuro,  a  brother  and  sub- 
chieftain  of  Ndoruma. 

Fourth  day.— To  the  residence  of  Ndoruma's  behnky  Byazingee. 

Fifth  and  Sixth  days. — In  a  south-western  direction  across 
uninhabited  regions. 

Seventh  day. — Half  a  day's  march  to  Baria's  territory :  halt  at 
the  border  villages. 

Eighth  day. — A  day's  march  through  populous  districts  to 
Baria's  residence,  near  which  Ahmed  Awat,  Hassaballa's  head- 


APPENDIX  n.  499 

controller,  has  erected  a  Seriba.  Baria  is  an  old  friend  and 
ally  of  the  company. 

Ninth  day. — 'A  good  day's  march  to  the  south,  to  the  residence 
of  Sango,  a  brother  and  sub-chieftain  of  Ndoruma. 

Tenth  and  Eleventh  days. — Across  uninhabited  country  ;  two 
nights  in  the  wilderness. 

Twelfth  day. — A  day's  march  to  the  abode  of  Ndenny,  a  son  and 
former  behnky  of  the  deceased  Sena. 

Thirteenth  day. —  To  the  residence  of  Baziboh,  the  son  of  Sena, 
now  an  independent  chieftain. 

Fourteenth  day. — To  the  Gangara  mountains,  the  home  of  the 
A-Madi  and  their  kindred  tribe  the  Imberiy. 

Fifteenth  and  Sixteenth  days. — Through  populated  districts  to 
the  residence  of  the  old  chieftain  Ezo, 


G.— EOUTE  FEOM  KURSHOOK  ALI'S  CHIEF  SEEIBA 
ON  THE  DYOOE  TO  ABOO  SHATTER,  IN  THE  DIS- 
.  TEICT  OF  THE  BELLANDA. 

First  day. — Eight  hours'  march  to  the  south-west  and  south, 
through  Hassaballa's  small  Seriba  to  Kurshook  Ali's  subsidiar}- 
Seriba  Mittoo  in  Bongoland. 

Second  day. — Six  hours'  march  to  the  south,  to  a  second  Seriba 
belonging  to  the  same  company,  and  called  Longo.  A  small 
Seriba  of  Agahd's  lies  to  the  east  of  the  route  :  it  is  called  Mbor, 
and  is  not  far  from  the  left  bank.of  the  Dyoor. 

Third  day. — Seven  or  eight  leagues  to  the  site  of  a  former 
Seriba  of  Kurshook  Ali,  named  Murr. 

Fourth  day. — Across  the  frontier  wilderness  on  the  south  of 
the  Bongo  territory  :  night  in  the  wilderness. 

Fifth  day. — A  short  march  to  the  border  villages  of  the 
Bellanda,  under  the  control  of  a  behnky  of  the  Niam-niam  chief- 
tain Solongoh. 

Sixth  da?/.— Half-a-day's  march  to  Aboo  Shatter,  a  lofty  iso- 
lated mountain,  from  the  summit  of  which  all  the  detached  hills 
of  southern  Bongoland  and  the  mountains  of  Mundo  (Babuckur) 
are  said  to  be  visible.  The  local  chief  of  the  Bellanda,  under 
Kurshook  Ali's  jurisdiction,  is  named  Akoo,  whilst  the  chief  of 
the  Niam-niam,  tributary  to  Solongoh,  is  said  to  be  Bongurr.  Six 
hours  to  the  north-cast  of  Aboo  Shatter  is  a  second  Bellanda 


500  THE  HEAET  OF  AFRICA. 

Scriba,  belonging  to  Knrshook  Ali,  called  Dongoh  :  it  is  said  to 
be  near  the  left  bank  of  the  Dyoor.  Six  hours  farther  to  the 
east,  and  beyond  the  river,  is  a  third  Seriba  belonging  to  this 
company,  named  Asalla.  A  few  hours  to  the  north  of  Asalla  are 
Aboo  Guroon's  Bongo  Seribas,  called  Gebel  Eegheb  and  Aboo- 
leghee  by  the  Nubians,  after  the  Bongo  Sheikh  of  the  district. 
The  native  name  for  Abooleghee  is  Karej,  that  of  Gebel  Eeggeb 
beino;  Hibboo, 


H.— EOUTE  TO  THE  SOUTH  FEOM  KULONGO  TO 
GEBEL  HIGGOO  AND  MUNDO. 

First  day.- -Five  hours  to  the  SS.W.  to  Knrshook  Ali's  small 
Seriba  Kileby.  Four  hours  to  the  west  of  Kileby  lies  the  small 
Seriba  Ngorr,  belonging  to  the  same  company. 

Second  day. — Seven  hours'  march  to  Ghattas's  subsidiary  Seriba 
Mboh,  of  which  the  local  chief  of  the  Bongo  is  named  Doliba.  A 
deserted  Seriba  of  Knrshook  Ali's,  of  which  the  local  chief  was 
named  Abrass,  is  passed  on  the  road.  Two  considerable  brooks 
(the  Molmul  and  the  Nyedokoo  ?)  are  crossed  between  Kileby 
and  Mbuh. 

Third  day. — Six  or  seven  hours  to  Ghattas's  Seriba  Doggaia, 
of  which  the  local  chief  is  named  Bonyira. 

Fourth  day. — Four  hours'  march  to  Ghattas's  Seriba  on  Gebel 
Higgoo.  The  Bongo  disirict  is  called  Longo,  the  local  chief 
Higgoo.  Three  hours  to  the  east  is  a  much  frequented  Seriba 
belonging  to  Ghattas;  it  is  situated  on  the  so-called  Gebel 
Shiteta  (cayenne-pepper  hill),  and  called  Eoome  by  the  Bongo. 
The  local  overseer  of  the  district  is  named  Bomadioh.  Sabby 
lies  two  days'  march  east  of  Gebel  Shiteta ;  afler  crossing  the 
Tondy  the  road  leads  on  the  first  day  through  the  village  of  the 
Bongo  sheikh  Guiya,  who  is  in  Aboo  Sammat's  territory. 
Mundo  lies  only  two  leagues  to  the  south  of  Gebel  Higgoo  ;  the 
route  to  the  Niam-niam  lands  across  this  mountainous  region  of 
the  Babuckur  leads  through  a  dangerous  defile,  where  travellers 
are  often  attacked  by  the  natives.  This  is  the  Mundo  visited 
by  J.  Petherick  in  February  1858,  the  name  of  the  places 
which  he  passed  are  given  by  him  in  the  Bongo  dialect,  and 
several  of  them,  such  as  Yow,  Dangah,  Mahah,  Murr,  and  Luiigo, 
are  retained  to  the  present  time. 


APPENDIX  III. 


LIST   OF   MAMMALIA   OBSERVED   DUEING   MY 
TRAVELS  FROM  THE  GAZELLE. 

(with  their  native  names).* 

1.  Troglodytes  niger.     Geoflf.     (Variety:  Schweinfurthii.     Gigl.^ 

Bongo :  Dadda. 

Niam-niam  :  Irangba  or  Manjarooma. 

Monbuttoo :  Kohzo, 

Sehre :  Sango. 

2.  Colohus  guereza.     Eiipp. 

Bongo :  Ndollo. 
Niam-niam :  Mbeggeh. 

3    Cercopitliecus  griseoviridis.     Desm. 

Dyoor :  Kgero  or  Angehn 
Bongo :  Manga. 
Niam-niam  :  Ngalangala. 
Kredy:  Ohio. 

4.  Cercopithectis  pyrrhonotus.     Ehrb. 
Dinka :  Agohk. 
Dyoor :  Abworro. 
Bongo :  Gumbi, 
Niam-niam :  Gungbeh. 
Golo :  Toggwa. 
Kredy :  Nyagga 


*  The  native  names  will  also  show  the  geographical  distribution  of  the 
various  animals.  1  am  indebted  to  Professor  K.  1  lartmann  for  the  names  of 
all  but  the  doubtful  species. 


602  THE  HEAKT  OP  AFRICA. 

5.  Gercopithecus  pygerythrus.     F.  Cuv 

Mam-niam :  Ndumm. 

6.  Gynocephalus  Babuin.     Desm. 

Dyoor :  Bimm. 

Bongo :  Kungali. 

Is  iain-niam :  Bokkoo. 

7.  Gynocephalus  sp. 

Sehre :  Mbeeri. 
Golo :  Filli. 
Kredy  :  Booroo. 

8.  Otolicnus  Teng.     Geoffr.     (Galago  senegalensis.     F.  Cuvier.) 

Dinka  :  Londorr  or  Nehngby. 
Dyoor  :  Anyoi  or  Anynai. 
Bongo  :  Kdohr. 
Kiam-niam :  Bakunibosso. 

9.  Otolicnus  Pelei.     Temm.     (Galago  Demidoffii.     Fisch.) 

Is  iam-niam :  Mbottoo. 

10.  Megaderma  frons.     Geoffr. 

11.  Vesperugo  sp. 

Bongo :  Beeroo. 
Niam-niam :  Tooreli. 

12.  Scotophilus  leucogaster.     Geoffr. 

13.  Nycteris  Mspida.     Geoffr. 

14:.  Phyllorrhina  caffra.     Lund. 

1 5.  Erinaceus  sp. 

Dyoor :  Ohkoddo. 
Bongo :  Ndudoopirakpeh. 
Niam-niam  :  Dunduleh. 
Golo :  Iddoo. 
Kredy  :-Ohko. 
Sehre :  Mbarra, 


16.  Sorex  sp. 


Dyoor :  Ushull. 

Bongo  :  Tondo,  or  Shondo. 

Niam-niam :  Ndelly. 

Golo:  Diffee. 

Kredy  :  Djanje-kreie. 


APPENDIX  m.  503 

17.  Batelus  caperisis.     G.  Cuv. 

Dyoor :  Ogang. 
Bongo :  Nyirr. 
Niam-niam :  Torubale. 

18.  Lutra  munguis.     F.  Cuv.  ? 

Niam-niam :  Limmu. 

19.  Ganis  familiaris.     L. 

Dinka :  Dyong. 

Dyoor :  Grook.  ' 

Bongo :  Bihee. 

Niam-niam :  Ango. 

Mittoo:  Weehy.   . 

Golo:  Ovio. 

Kredy  :  Kohno. 

Sehre  :  Borro. 

Monbuttoo  :  Nessy. 

20.  Canis  variegatus.    Cretsclim.     (C.  aureus  auctorum.') 

Dinka  :  A^n^aun. 
Dyoor:  Toh. 
Bongo :  Galali. 
Niam-niam :  Hoah. 
Kredy :  Glommu. 
Golo  :  Ndaggeh. 
Sehre  :  Ndeh. 

21.  Canis  pictiis.     Desm. 

Dinka :  Kwaty. 
Bongo  :  Well. 
Niam-niam  :  Tiah. 
Sehre  :  Sahr. 

22.  Octoeyon  Lalandii.     H.  Sm.  ? 

Dinka :   Paudey. 

23.  Hycena  crocata.     Zimm. 

Dinka :  Angwee. 
Dyoor :  Utwomm. 
Bongo  :  Heel 00. 
Niam-niam  :   Wegge. 
Mittoo  :  Moddaoo. 
Golo  :  Mboo. 
Sehre:  Mboh. 


604  THE  HEAKT  OF  AFRICA. 

24.  Viverra  civetfa.     Schreb. 

Dyoor :   Yuoll. 
Bongo :  Kinrukkoo. 
Niam-niam  :  Teeya. 

25.  Viverra  genetta.     L. 

Dinka  :  Augonn. 
.     Dyoor :  Anyara. 
Bongo  :  Dougoh. 
Niam-niam  :  Mbellee. 
Golo:  Mfah. 
Kredy  :  Ndilly. 
Sebre:  Mebre. 

26.  Herpestes  fasciatus.     Desm. 

Dinka :  Agorr. 
Dyoor :  Gorr. 
Bongo  :  Ngorr,  or  Dai. 
Niam-niam:  Nduttwah. 

27.  Felis  leo.     L. 

Dinka  :  Kohr. 
Dyoor:  Moo. 
Bongo  :  Pull. 
Niam-niam :  Mbongonoo. 
Golo :  Singilee. 
Kredy :  Ganye-kaza. 
Sebre  :  Simnginny. 

28.  Felis  leopardus.     Scbreb. 

Dyoor :  Kwaty. 
Bongo  :  Koggo. 
Niam-niam  :  Mamab. 
Kredy  :  Sellembey. 

29.  Felis  caracal.     L. 

Dj'oor :  Nwoi. 

Bongo :  Mudyokpollali. 

Niam-niam :  Mobboroo. 

30.  Felis  se7-val.     Scbreb. 

Dinka:  Dobk. 
Bongo:  Gregge. 
Niam-niam  :  Ngaifoo. 


APPENDIX  in.  505 

31.  Ftlis  inmdcidata.     Temra  :  Kiipp. 

Dinka :  Angow. 
Dyour  :  Bang,  or  Gwang. 
Bongo  :  Mbira-oo. 
Niam-niam :  Dandalah. 
Golo :  Dahve. 
Kredy  :  Lehje, 
Sehre  :  Sahte. 
Mittoo:  Ngorroh 

32.  Sciurus  leucumbrinus.     Riipp. 

Dyoor:  Aiyeda. 
Bongo  :  Remme. 
Niam-niam :  Bedevry. 

33.  Sciurus  superciliaris.     A.  Wagn. 

Dinka:  AUohl. 

D^oor :  Anyuai. 

Bongo  :  Urenge. 

Niam-niam  :  Bamumba,  or  Bakuiiibali. 

Golo :  Angah. 

Sehre :  Serenna. 

34.  Mus  decumanus.     Pall. 

Bongo  :  Limy. 
Niam-niam:  Gwah. 

35.  Mus  alexandrinus.     Geoffr 

Dinka :  Lohk. 

Bongo:  Higgeh-roo,  or  Eohpattali. 

Niam-niam :  Babilly, 

Kredy:  Ohtoli. 

Sehie :  Dyoo. 

3(3.   Golimda  pulchella.     Gray. 

Dinka :  Manyang. 
Dyoor  :  Weeo. 
Bongo :  Yangah, 
Niam-niam :  Sikka. 
Golo  :  Ngadze. 
Mittoo:  Gaggah. 


506  THK  HEART  OF  AFRICA. 

37.  Meriones  Burtonii.     A.  Wagn. 

Dinka :  Maval  kondo. 

Dyoor  :  Omadda. 

Bongo  :  Mokokoh,  or  Higgebnyakkah. 

Niam-niam :  Zakadda. 

Golo:  Fyako. 

Kredy :  11  tee. 

Sehre :  Dyoo. 

38.  Mm  gentilis.     Brants. 

Bongo :  Mangbelle. 
Niam-niani :  Ndekkitelly. 

39.  Aulacodus  Swinderianus.     Teinm. 

Bongo :  Bobko. 
Dinka:  Lony. 
Dyoor :  Nyanyahr. 
Niam-niam:  Eemvo  or  Alimvoh. 
Golo:  Elle. 
Sehre  :  Abattara. 
Kiedy :  Mbadja. 
Mittoo:  Wobko. 

40.  Lepus  cethiopicus.     Ebrbg. 

Dinka :  Anyorr. 
Dyoor :  Ap-woio. 
Bongo :  Battab. 
Niam-niam  :  Ndekutteh. 
Kredy :  Ohzo. 

41.  Hystrix  cristata.     L. 

Dyoor :  Sbyow. 
Bongo :  Keboa. 
Niam-niam :  Nzingeneh. 

42.  Orycteropus  oeihiopicus.    Sundev. 

Dyoor:  Mobk. 
Niam-niam :  Kabre. 

43.  Manis  Tonminckii.     Simd. 

Dyoor:  Kong. 
Bongo :  Konn. 
Niam-niam :  Basbisbee. 


APPENDIX  TIL  507 


44.  Elephns  africanus.     Blum. 

Dinka :  Akonn. 
Dyoor  :  Lyady. 
Bongo :   Kiddy. 
Niam-uiam  :  Mbarah. 
Mittoo:  Kiddy. 
Golo:  Offio. 
Kredy :  Morrongoh. 
Sehre :  Shall. 

45.  Rhinoceros  bicornis.     L. 

Dyoor :  Umwoli. 
Bongo  :  Basha. 
Niam-niam :  Kangah. 
Kredy :  Grurnppo. 

46.  Hippopotamus  amphibius.     L. 

Dinka :  Nyang. 
Dyoor :  Fahr. 
Bongo:  Habba. 
Niam-niam  :  Duppoh. 
Golo :  Fyongoo. 
Kredy  :  Mnmgoo. 
Sehre  :  Diffoh. 

47.  Hyrax  sp. 

Bongo:  Mberedoo. 
Niam-niam  :  Attaboo. 
Lehsy :  Keltoh. 
Golo :  Ngaffe. 
Kredy  :  Ozo. 
Sehre  :  Nogoun. 

48.  Fluxcochcerus  Aeliani.     Eiipp. 

Dinka :  Dyehr, 

Dyoor:  Kull. 

Bongo:  Bohdoo. 

Niam-niam  :  Tibba. 

Mittoo:  Waduli. 

Kredy  :  Bonghoh,  or  Boddoh- 

Golo :  Vungbah. 

Sehre  :  Badzo. 


508  THE  HEART  OF  AFRICA. 

49.  Potamnclvicrus  penicillatus.     Gray. 

Niam-niam  :  Mokkuroo,  or  Djombon 
Monbuttoo:  Napazo. 

50.  Camelopardalis  giraffa.     L. 

Dinka:  Mehr. 

Dyoor :  Wehr. 

Bongo :  Killiroo. 

Niam-niam :  Basumbarrigby. 

Golo :  Ndakkala. 

Kredy :  Govi.sisee. 

Sehre :  Bagga. 

61.  Sus  sennaariensis.     Fitz. 

Dinka :  Angow. 
Dj^oor  :  Amayok. 
Bongo :  Mondoh. 
Niam-niam :  Gurrwa. 
Mittoo  Madi :  Legyeh. 

52.  Antilope  Oreas.     Pall. 

Dinka :  Golgwall. 
Dyoor :  Odyerr. 
Bongo  :  Mburreh. 
Niam-niam  :  Mbuireb. 
Mittoo  :  Kehr,  or  Mburreh. 
Bellanda :  Odehr. 
Kredy :  Kobbo. 
Sebre :  Kovo. 
Golo :  Kobbo. 

TjS.  Antilope  leucophcea.     Pall,     (^goceros.     Ham.  Sm.) 
Dinka  :  Amomm. 
Dyoor :  Ommar. 
Bongo :  Manya. 
•Niam-niam :  Bisso. 
Golo :  Vunniingoo. 
Bellanda :  Omabr. 
Sebre :  Debngab. 

54.  Antilope  nigra.     Harris.     {Mgoceros.     Hani.  Sm.; 


APPENDIX  III. 


50iJ 


65.  Antilnpe  caama.     Gray.     (^Aci'onotm.    H.  Sm.) 
Dinka :  Alalwelil. 
Dyoor :  Puiroh. 
Bongo :  Karia. 

Niam-niam  :  Songoroh,  or  Soggumoo. 
Mittoo :  Borro. 
Golo  :  Kotzo. 
Kredy  :  Kreia. 
Sehre :  Dangab. 
Babuckur  :  Borro. 
Monbuttoo :  Nakkibbee. 

5t).  Antilope  leucotis.     Licbt.  Peters.     (Kobus.    A.  Sin.) 
Dinka:  Teel. 
Dyoor :  Teel. 
Bongo  :  Kalah. 
Niam-niam  :  Tagba. 
Mittoo:  Kalla. 
Sebre  :  Boddy. 
Kredy :  Ngaio. 
Golo :  Ngallab. 
Monbuttoo  :  Nebpedde. 

o7.  Antilope  defassa.     Eiipp.     (Kobus.     A.  Sm.) 
Dinka  :  Pobr  or  Fobr. 
Dyoor :  Ummoowoli. 
Bongo  :  Booboo. 
Niam-Niam  :  Mbagga. 
Mittoo:  Lehby. 
Kredy:  Adyee. 
Golo:  Boggo,  or  Weeudy. 


58.  Antilope  megaloceros.     Hengl. 

Dinka:  Abobk. 

59.  Antilope  arundinacea.     Gray. 

Dinka  :  Kao. 
Dyoor  :   Kobr. 
Bongo  :  Yolo. 
Niam-niam :  Yoro. 
Golo:  Ngallab. 
Sehre  :  Dyiang. 


(Kobus.     A    Sm ) 


[Eleotragus. ) 


510  THE  HEART  OP  AFRICA. 

60.  Antilope  scripta.     Pall.     (Tragelaphvs.     Blainv.) 

Dinka  :   Pehr,  or  Fehr. 

Dyoor :  Rohro. 

Bongo  :  Tobbo. 

Niain-Niam :  Boddy. 

Golo :  Kuffoo. 

Mittoo:  Ehboo. 

Kredy  :  Leuje. 

Sehre  :  Ya-oo,  oi*  Yavoh. 

Bellanda  :  Eodda. 
HI.  Antilope  Addax.     Licht. 

Dinka :  Anyidohl. 

Bongo  :   Owel. 

62.  Antilope  senegalensis.     H.  Lin.     {JDumalis.     Gray.) 

Dinka :  Tyang. 
Dyoor  :  Tabng. 
Bongo :  Tangbe. ' 

63.  Antilope  madoqua.     Eiipp.     [Gephaloloplius.     H.  Sm.      Hens.) 

Dinka  :  Lobdy. 
Dyoor  :  Nettyade. 
Bongo  :  Heggoleb. 
Mittoo:  Kulleb. 
Niam-niam :  Bongbalyah. 
Golo :  Leffa. 
Kredy :  Kebdo. 
Sebre:  Ngogob. 
Sbillook :  Akony. 

64.  Antilope  grimmia.     Licbt.     (Gephalolophus.     H.  Sm.) 

Dinka:  Amook. 
Dyoor :  Nyepael. 
Bongo  :  Deelg. 
Niam-niam  :  Bafoo. 
Mittoo  :  Lebloo. 
Mittoo-Madi :  Heeboo. 
Sebre  :  Dee. 

65.  Antilope  pygmcea.     Licbt.     (Gephalolophus.     H.  Sm.) 

Bongo :  Mburrumoo. 
Niam-niam :  Mourrab. 
Sehre :  Nzerre. 
Monbuttoo  •.  Nelunbokoh. 


APPENDIX  III.  511 

66.  Anlilope  sp.  minor  rufescens.     (^Cephalolophtis.     H.  Sra.) 

Bongo  :  Dongboli. 
Niam-niam  :  Koiituinoh. 

67.  Gapra  liircus.     L. 

Dinka  :  Tonn  (male) ;  Tohk  (fcuiale). 

Dyoor  :  Byell. 

Bongo :  Binya. 

Niam-niam  :  Wussindeh. 

Mittoo :  Oanya. 

Golo  :  Orego. 

Kredy  :  Ehne. 

Sehre  :  Mvirry, 

Monbnttoo  :  Memmeii. 

68.  Ovis  aries.     L. 

Dinka :  Amahl. 
Dyoor :  Koliino. 
Bongo  :  Eomboh. 
Kredy ;  Ndilliraee. 
Mittoo:  Kameleh. 
Sehre:  Dzagga. 

60.  -Bos  taurus.     L.  (B.  Zehu,  var.  Africana). 

Dinka :  Webng  (common)  ;    Tonu  (male)  ;    Ngoot 

(female). 
Bongo  :  Shah. 
Niam-niam :  Ililty.  . 
Mittoo:  Ehshah. 
Golo:  Moddoh. 
Kredy  :  Modoh. 
Dyoor:  Dyang. 

70.  Buhalis  Gaffer.     Gray. 

Dinka:  AnyaiT. 
Dyoor :  Dyooy. 
Bongo :  Kobby. 
Niam-niam:  Mbab. 
Golo  :  Meende. 
Kredy  :  Sobbo,  or  Mbah. 
Sehre:  Mbah. 


512  THE  HEAUT  OF  AFIUCA. 

71.  Manatus  senc(ialcnsi.s.     De.sni.     M.  Vogelii? 
Nxibians :  Khaioof-el-Bahr. 


DOUBTFUL   SPECIES,   KNOWN  ONLY   FKOM   IN- 
FORMATION DERIVED  FROM  NATIVES. 

72.  Sorex  sp.  ? 

Bongo :  Higgeh  Karia. 

73.  Mus  sp.  ? 

Bongo  :  Mobiddy. 

74.  Mus  sp.  f 

Bongo :  Highee  Deeloo. 

75.  GhrijsoMcyris  sp.  ?     {Talpa  ?  } 

Bungo  :  Brumur. 
Niam-niani :  Tundooah. 


INDEX. 


A-Banga,  tribe  of,  i.  522 ;  entertaining, 
i.  531 ;  their  arrows,  i.  53i  ;  trophy 
of  their  heads,  ii.  176,  178 ;  great 
body  of,  ii.  180. 

Aboo  Guroon,  i.  185 ;  repulsed  by 
Tikkiboh,  ii.  95;  visit  to,  ii.  287; 
his  death,  ii.  308. 

Aboo  Maaref,  i.  242. 

Aboo  Odfa,  a  natural  monument,  i.  37. 

Aboo  Sammat,  i.  99  :  his  liberality. 
i.  333,  417 ;  his  hospitality,  i.  351 ; 
his  speech,  i.  397;  his  territory, 
i.  465 ;  wounded,  ii.  171 ;  present 
from,  ii.  277 ;  attacked,  ii.  285. 

Abrey  (cold  cup),  i.  373. 

Acacia,  spirocarpa,  i.  59 ;  verugata, 
i.  76 ;  fistula,  i.  97. 

Adenia  venenata,  i.  135 

Adimokoo  the  Akka,  ii.  127;  his  war- 
dance,  ii.  129. 

Agar,  i.  225. 

Ahmed,  i.  434  ;  his  death,  ii.  230. 

Ahmed  Aga,  ii.  357,  360,  369. 

Akka,  their  country,  ii.  84 ;  their 
height,  complexion,  and  hair,  ii.  140 ; 
appearance,  ii.  141 ;  their  hands, 
skull,  and  eyes,  ii.  142 ;  ears  and 
lips,  ii.  143 ;  dialect,  ii.  144 ;  their 
treatment  by  the  Monbuttoo,  ii.  145. 

Alhizzia  serico-eephalus,  i.  144. 

Algiers,  ii.  435, 

Allagabo  the  Bongo,  ii.  205,  460,  487. 

Aloe,  not  found  in  Egypt,  i.  105 ;  with 
green  blossom,  ii.  203. 

Alwaj  district,  i.  171. 

Ambatch  (Hermiuiera),  i.  61  ;  canoes, 
i.  77. 

Amomum,  i.  468. 

Vol.  II.— 35 


Analogy  of  rivers,  i.  113. 

AnunacesD,  i.  497. 

Anona  Senegalensis,  i.  222. 

Antelopes :  megaloceras,  i.  63 ;  madoqua, 

i.  188, 243,  ii.  464  ;  caama,  i.  195,  427 : 

leucotis,  i.  196,  241,  457  ;  ii.  233,445; 

Uucophxa,    i.    216 ;    nigra,    i.    242 : 

grimmia,   i.    243;    arundniarea,    ii. 

446;    ellipsiprymna,    i.    338;    oreag. 

i.  359,  ii.  248 ;    antelope  chased  by 

hyaena,  ii.  205. 
Ant-hills,  i.  349  ;  ii.  196. 
Anthocleista,  i.  470. 
Antinori,  Marquis,  i.  185  ;  ii.  80. 
Ants,  invasion  of,  ii.  227. 
Apostrophe  to  the  Nile,  i.  1S7. 
Arab  nicknames,  i.  82. 
Arabs,  true,  i.  28. 
Arash  Kol,  Mt.,  i.  57. 
Arbab,  marriage  of,  i.  40. 
Arslan,  my  sheep  dog,  i.  56 ;  stung  by 

bees,  i.  74  ;  his  death,  i.  217. 
Assika,  the  river,  ii.  183. 
Atoborroo,  i.  457. 
Awoory,  i.  377. 

Babickur,  raid  on,  ii.  222 ;  persecu- 
tion of,  ii.  257 ;  their  women,  ii.  258  ; 
value  aa  slaves,  ii.  419. 

Baginze,  Mt.,  ii.  212;  its  position, 
ii.  213 ;  vegetation,  ii.  214. 

Baggara,  i.  06;  Kizegut,  ii.  .341,  :U»5. 

Bahr-el-Arnb,  its  moulh,  i.  122,  i*len- 
tity  with  the  iJaiir-il-Uouir,  ii.  370  ; 
its  importance,  ii.  392. 

Bahr-el-(ihazal,  compared  to  thi-  Havel, 
i.  115;  its  imiKjrtance,  i.  123,  125. 
(_Vide  Gazelle.) 


514 


INDEX, 


Bahr-el-Kooioo,  ii.  353. 

n;ikor,  Sir  Samuel:  encounter  with 
nutives,  i.  30 ;  bis  opinion  of  soil  by 
the  White  Nile,  i.  56 ;  fcuppression 
of  slave  expedition  from  Fashoda, 
i.  83 ;  hindered  at  the  grass  barrier, 
i.  106;  loss  of  pack-ass,  i.  135 ;  praiae 
of  Lepidosiren,  i.  136;  living  on 
Melochia,  ii.  197;  book  of  travels, 
i.  320,  ii.  198 ;  condt-mns  eleusine, 
i.  492  ;  statement  about  Lake  Mwoo- 
tan,  ii.  162;  peremptory  measures, 
ii.  410,  429;  indignation  against, 
ii.  485. 

Balxniceps  rex,  i.  117,  ii.  472. 

Bamboos  (bambusa),  i.  183 ;  in  blossom, 
i.  237 ;  jungles,  ii.  251,  253. 

Bastard-gemsbock,  i.  216. 

Beads,  i.  203,  502  ;  ii.  235. 

Beans,  i.  249  ;  ii.  254. 

Bear-baboons,  i.  198. 

Bearers,  desertion  of,  i.  184,  feeding 
them,  i.  461,  475 ;  consideration 
shown  to  them,  i.  477  ;  an  exhausted 
bearer,  i.  433;  three  of  them  mur- 
dered, ii.  220. 

Bedouins,  town,  i.  28. 

Beery,  the  river,  ii.  377. 

Bees :  attacked  by  a  swarm,  i.  73 ; 
suifering  from  their  stings,  i.  75. 

Bees'  wax,  ii.  167. 

Behnky,  name  for  Niam-niam  chief- 
tains, ii.  22. 

Bellanda,  i.  200. 

Berl)er,  i.  38;  return  to.  ii.  485. 

Bet-el-Gellahba,  ii.  394. 

Bishareen,  i.  28 ;  their  sheep  and  goats, 
i.  32  ;  ugliness  of  the  women,  i.  36. 

Blessing,  the  missionary,  ii.  482. 

Blippo  {Gardenia  maUeifera),  i.  440 ; 
used  by  Monbuttoo,  ii.  104. 

Boar,  wild,  i.  363. 

Bodumoh,  the  river,  ii.  202. 

Bongo  :  festival  of,  i.  183  :  their  coun- 
try, i.  257 ;  vassalage,  i.  259  ;  popu- 
lation, i.  260  ;  complexion,  i.  261 ; 
stature,  i.  263 ;  skull  and  hair, 
i.  264  ;  agriculture,  i.  266  ;  smoking, 
i.  269 ;  goats,  i.  270 ;  dogs,  i.  271 : 
hunting,    i.    272 ;     money,    i.    279 : 


ornaments,  i.  279;  graves,  i.  285 
303 ;  music,  i.  287 ;  weapons,  i.  299 ; 
games,  i.  300 ;  fear  of  ghosts,  i.  305 ; 
belief  in  witches,  i.  307;  singing 
i.  309  ;  dialect,  i.  311 ;  sauces,  i.  462; 
concert,  ii.  404 ;  value  as  slaves, 
ii.  419  ;  chief,  executed,  ii.  457. 

Bongwa,  the  chieftain,  i.  543  ;  his  wife, 
i.  544 ;  return  to,  ii.  153. 

Boroo  or  borru),  ii.  32,  181. 

"  Bride  of  the  Fish,"  i.  16. 

Bruce,  the  traveller,  i.  113. 

Buffalo,  attack  of  a  wild,  i.  64 ;  frantic 
herd  of  tliem,  i.  70 ;  African  species, 
i.  193 ;  alarmed  by,  ii.  259 ;  herd  of 
them,  ii.  265 ;  calf  killed,  ii.  347. 

Bunza,  son  of  Munza,  ii.  57. 

Buslibock  killed,  ii.  255. 

Bushmen,  ii.  139. 

Butterflies,  i.  197. 

Butter  tree,  i.  220. 

Calamvs,  hedge  of,  i.  468. 

Calotropis,  ii.  343. 

Cannibalism :  traces  of,  i.  517 ; 
amongst  Niam-niam,  ii.  17,  224 ; 
amongst  Monbuttoo,  ii.  93. 

Cara'ib  (Bucerosia),  i.  22. 

Caroob,  i.  191. 

Carpodiuus,  i.  192. 

Cat,  wild  (^Felis  Manicidata),  i.  320. 

Cattle-diseases,  ii.  280. 

Cattle-raids  on  Dinka,  i.  227 ;  ii.  465. 

Caves  of  Kulongo,  i.  234. 

Charcoal,  ignorance  of,  i.  208. 

Chimpanzees:  abundance  in  Wando's 
district,  i.  497,  518 ;  mode  of  catch- 
ing, i.  521. 

Chinese  hand-barrows,  ii.  307. 

Christianity  and  slave-trade,  ii,  432. 

Christ's  thorn  (^Zizyphus  Baclei),  i. 
360. 

Cogyvor,  or  wizards,  i.  331. 

Cola-nut,  ii.  49. 

Coldest  day,  ii.  304. 

Coloc-asia,  i.  445. 

Copper :  taken  as  exchange,  i.  502 ; 
known  to  Monbuttoo,  ii.  109 ;  orna- 
ments, ii.  110;  goods  obtained  for, 
ii.  362  ;  mines,  ii.  372. 


INDEX. 


515 


Cordia  dbyssinica,  i.  558. 
Oroco.iiles,  ii.  336. 
Cussoiiia,  ii.  212. 
(Jyanite,  ii.  47. 

Dal  Kurdyook,  a  Dinka  chief,  ii.  -16G. 

Damury,  ii.  345. 

Damvo,  ii.  212. 

Dangabor,  Bongo  ornament,  i.  282. 

Dangadduloo,  i.  372. 

Dapper,  ii.  136. 

Dar  Aboo  Dinga  river,  ii.  390. 

Dar  Ferteet,  district  of,  ii.  365,  430. 

Darfoor,    refuge    for   outlaws,   i.   383 ; 

route  to,  ii.  371 ;   its  copper-mines, 

ii.  372. 
Defafang,  an  extinct  volcano,  i.  69. 
Dehms,  ii.  355,  3G5 ;    Dehni  Nduggo 

ii.   860;     Dehm    Gudyoo,    ii.    380; 

Dehm  Bekeer,  ii.  387. 
Deloo  antelopes,  i.  245. 
Depopulation  of  Africa,  ii.  437. 
Deraggo,  i.  399. 
Dialect :  Dyoor,  i.  200;  Bongo,  i.  311 ; 

Niam-niam,   ii.   31;    Moubuttoo,   ii. 

i02;  Akka,  ii.  144;  Golo,  ii.  350; 

Kredy,  ii.  368  ;  Sehre,  ii.  396. 
Dinka  :    territory,    i.    148 ;    physical 

peculiarities,   i.   149;    ornaments,  i. 

153 ;      weapons,    i.    155  ;     cookery, 

i.  157;  bouses,  i.  159;  domestic  ani- 
mals,  i.   160;     population,    i.    167; 

character,  i.  169 ;  soil,  i.  180. 
Displacement  of  Nile  vegetation,  i.  69. 
Djee,  the  river,  ii.  388,  395. 
Doggoroo,  the  river,  i.  327  ;  ii.  268. 
Doggudoo  (or  Dokkuttoo),  i.  367. 
Dome-palms    (^Ityphxne    thebaica),   ii. 

185. 
Doomookoo,  i.  240. 
Dracsenae,  i.  21 . 

Dualism  of  vegetation,  i.  223,  505. 
Ducks,  i.  120. 
Dueme,   village   on    the   Wlnti;   Xile, 

i.  59. 
Duggoo,  i.  343. 
Dugwara,  i.  389. 
Duisberg,  German  vice-consul  at  lihai- 

tooin,  i.  42,45;  ii.  182. 
Dumburre,  ii.  407. 


Dyafer,  Pasha,  Governor-general  of 
Klmrtoom,  i.  44  ;  ii.  479,  483. 

Dyagbe,  the  river,  i.  51 6. 

Dyoor,  the  river,  mouth  of,  i.  124  ;  oM 
bed  of,  i.  125  ;  dimensions  of,  i.  186 ; 
ii.  283,312;  fishing  in,  ii.  451. 

DvoOR,  nation ;  name  and  dialect,  i. 
200 ;  complexion  and  omanients. 
i.  201 ;  women,  i.  202 ;  slimnees. 
i.  204;  sptars  and  spades,  i.  20."i ; 
iron-smelting,  i.  206;  smelting-fnr- 
naces,  i.  207 ;  huts,  i.  209  ;  hunting 
snares,  i.  211;  character,  i.  211: 
clay-floors,  i.  212;  affection,  i.  212. 

Earth-nuts,  i.  250. 

Eclipse  of  sun,  i.  11. 

Egyptians,  their  troops,  ii.  357 ;  their 
apathy,  ii.  435. 

Elephants :  African  contrasted  with 
Indian,  i.  139 ;  traces  of,  i.  457 : 
hunted  by  Niam-niam,  ii.  25 ;  pre- 
sent of  a  young  elephant,  ii.  277. 

Eleusine-com,  i.  248,  448,  492;  beer 
made  from,  ii.  13. 

El-Sett  (the  grass  barrier),  i.  107. 

El-Uslier,  ii.  343. 

Encephalartus,  i.  448;  ii  375. 

Ensete  (wild  plantain),  ii.  215. 
I  Entada  scandtns,  ii.  62. 
I  Eriddendron  anfracttiosum,  ii.  351. 

Erkoweet,  a  summer  retreat  from  Sua- 
I       kin,  1.  25. 

Euphorbise,  i.  21 ;  candelabra,  i.  120. 

Extract  of  meat,  ii.  69,  234. 

1  Faki,  grave  of  a,  ii.  292  ;  reverence  f.ir 
I  Fakis,  ii.  324 ;  Fakis  as  slave-dealers. 
I      ii.  413. 

I  Fan,  analogy  with  Niam-niam,  ii.  19 
Fanatical  priest  from  Kauo,  i.  30 ;  an 

offended,  ii.  342. 
Fanekama,  ii.  479. 

Farookii  (black  soldiers),  ii.  182.  421. 
Fashoda,  limit  of  E>:yptian  government. 

i.  78  :  return  to,  ii.  479. 
Ferns,  i.  507. 
Fever,  immunity  from,   i.  128;    deaths 

from,  ii.  48  ".. 
Fig-trei  a  of  Mon'nuttdO,  ii.  88 ;  gigantic 


£516 


INDEX. 


tree  in  Bongo  land,  ii.  343  ;  in  Seri  ba 

Moody,  ii.  405. 
Fire,  alarm  of,  i.  316 ;  ii.  461 ;  in  Seriba, 

ii.  2'JO. 
Flags,  i.  138. 

Flies  on  the  Gazelle,  i.  115. 
Fulbe,  affinity  of  Monbuttoo  with,  ii. 

101. 
Funguses,  i.  267. 

Gadda,  the  river,  ii.  251. 
Gallery-forests,  i.  504 ;    vegetation   of, 

i.  506. 
Garden,  my,  i.  213. 
Gazelle,  the  river  (13ahr-el-Ghazal),  i. 

112,  113,  123,  126  ;  ii.  473. 
Geer,  the  Seriba,  i.  ISl,  230  ;  ii.  460. 
Geese,  on  the  White  Nile,  i.  54. 
Gellahbas   (slave-dealers),   i.   228;    ii. 

356,  360,  365,  412,  417. 
Ghattas,  choice  of,  i.  45 ;  contract  with, 

i.  48;    a  bird   named,  i.   115;    his 

Seribas,  ii.  270,  289. 
Ghetty,  the  river,  ii.  336. 
Gimsah,  sulphur  works  at,  i.  12. 
Giraffes,  i.  182. 
Gnats,  i.  115. 

Gneiss-hills,  i.  536 ;  ii.  387. 
Goat-suckers       (^Cosmetornis       Spekii 

Sclatei),  i.  357. 
Goggo,  i.  394. 
Gourds,  i.  252,  ii.  269. 
Grovernment  contract,  i.  6;  troops,  ii. 

305. 
Grass,  i.  229. 

Grass-barrier  (El-Sett),  i.  105. 
Grass-huts,  ii.  226. 
Greenstone  prevalent,  i.  32. 
Gresse,  the  river,  ii.  3S0. 
Gudyoo,  Dehm,  ii.  379. 
Guinea-fowl,  i.  460. 
Guinea-hog,  ii.  78. 
Gimiango,  the  hill,  i.  446 ;  chasm,  ii. 

346. 
Gum-arabic,  i.  97. 
Gun-accident,   i.   88;     narrow    escape 

from,  i.  474,  497. 
Gyabk,  the  interpreter,  i.  513 ;  shot  in 

the   arm    i.  533;  his   cowardice,  ii. 

284. 


Habbabkum,  i.  65. 

Ualii'tos  vocifer,  i.  96. 

Hartebeests,  i.  195;  ii.  231,  259,  263 

463. 
Hassanieh — their  cattle,   i.  58 ;    theii- 

dogs,  i  59. 
Hegelig  (Balanites),  i.  66. 
Hellali,  the  swindler,  ii.  266,  330,  356, 

364. 
Herminiera  (ambatch  ,  i.  61. 
Heuglin,  Theodor  von,  i.  129 ;  ii.  337, 

339,  344. 
Hexabolus  (Anonacea),  i.  432. 
Hibiscus,  i.  253. 
Hippopotamuses — in  the  White  Nile,  i. 

56 ;  in  the  Keebaly,  ii.  159 ;  in  the 

Dyoor,  ii.  314;  their  fat,  ii.  316;  one 

dying,  ii.  473. 
Hoo,  the  river,  i.  456 ;  ii.  200,  225. 
Humboldt    Institution,     grant    from, 

i.  4. 
Humboldtia  (Kobbo-tree),  i.  451. 
Hussien,  my  Nubian  servant,  i.  416. 
Huts,  of  the  Dyoor,  i.  209;  grass,  ii. 

226. 
Hyseua-dogs  (_Canis  pictus),  ii.  274. 
Hyajna-woman,  i.  307 ;  ii.  475. 
Hyaena  chasing  an  antelope,  ii.  205. 
Hydrographical  law  as  affecting  river 

banks,  i.  54. 
Hyptis,  i.  250. 

Ibba,  the  river  (the  Upper  Tondy),  i. 

435. 
Ibrahim  Effendi,  ii.  363. 
Idrees   (Ghattas's    plenipotentiary),    i. 

178 ;  his  negligence,  ii.  297. 
Idrees,  Wod  Defter,  ii.  349. 
ludimma,  ii.  239. 
Inglery,   Mohammed  Aboo    Sammat's 

trumpeter,  i.  490. 
Islamism,  ii.  434. 
Islands  of  Sixth  Cataract,  i.  40. 
Ismail  Pasha,  bon  mot  of,  i.  113. 
Issoo,  the  Upper  Tondy,  ii.  210. 
Ivory,  trade  in  Khartoom,  i.  46 ;  traffic 

unimportant,  i.  175;   Europeans    in 

ivory  trade,  i.  177 ;  cost  of,  i.  503. 
Izingerria — visit  to,  i.  547. 


INDEX. 


si- 


Jackals,  i.  236. 
Jewish  school,  i.  330 

Kahpilt,  the  river,  ii.  155. 

Kamrasi,  inquiries  for,  ii.  67. 

Kanna,  ambassadors  from,  ii.  55 ;  march 

to,  ii.  240. 
Karra,  the  magic  tuber,  ii.  399. 
Keebaly,  the  river,  ii.  151 ;  its  rapids, 
ii.  158 ;  its  identity  with  the  UppLr 
Shary,  ii.  161. 
Khalil,  i.  188;  ii.  302,  318,  409,  453. 
Khareef,  i.  324. 

Khartoom:  merchants  of,  i.  5;  arrival 
at,  i.  42 ;  reception  in,  i.  44 ;  ivory 
trade  of,  i.  46;  ship-building  at,  i. 
51 ;  return  to,  ii.  481. 
Khaya-tree,  i.  188. 
Kher,  Mohammed,  i.  71. 
Khor-el-Eenuem,  ii.  353. 
Kigelia,  i.  140. 
Kilnoky,  i.  231. 

Kishy,  bridge  over  the  river,  ii.  203. 
Kissere  (Arab  bread),  i.  249 ;  ii.  252. 
Kites,  ii.  231 . 

Kobbo-trees  (Humboldtia),  i.  431. 
Kokkorokoo,  the  tree,  i.  469. 
Kosaria  palmata,  i.  220. 
Baapf,  ii.  138. 
•  Keedy:    their     appearance,    ii.    367 
boundaries,   ii.   368 ;    huts,   ii.   375 ; 
corn-magazines,  ii.  376. 
Kubby,  ii.  157. 

Kudy,  village  of,  i.  170 ;  ii.  466. 
Kulongo,  i.  233. 
Km-batches,  ii.  317. 
Kurdyook,  Shol's  husband,  i.  133 :  ii. 

469. 
Kurragera,    southern    limit    of    Aboo 

Sammat's  territory,  i.  395. 
Kurkur,  ii.  273. 
Kurshook   Ali,  the   Sandjak,  ii.   265 ; 

his  death,  ii.  282. 
Kussumbo,  woods  on  the,  i.  541 ;   ii. 

154. 
Kyatt  worm,  i.  166. 

Kyt,  cul-de-sac  on  the  Gazelle,  i.  124, 
127;  ii.  471. 

Lao,  its  water,  i.  143  ;  ii.  467. 


Lassav  (Capparis  galeata),  i.  23. 
Lavargue,     French      vice-consul      at 

Berber,  i.  39;  his  death,  ii.  4S6 
Leopard  killed,  ii.  255. 
Lepidosiren,  i.  135. 
Le  Saint,  i.  129. 
Leucotis  antelopes,  i.  196. 
"  L'homme  a  queue''  told  on  tlie  Nile, 

i.  68 ;  ii.  2. 
Lightniug,  women  killed  by,  i.  317. 
Lindukoo,  last  stream  of  Nile-system,  i. 

486,  493;  cataract  on,  i.491 ;  ii.  191. 
Lions:     limited    in    number,    i.   361  : 

carrying  off  a  soldier,  i.  367 ;   track 

of  a,  ii.  156;  one  shot,  ii.  311. 
Livingstone,  Dr.,  i.  504  ;  ii.  99,  186. 

Lizards  (Aqama  colonorum),  i.  322. 
Lollo,  the  river,  ii.  477. 
Longo,  dirt  in,  ii.  340. 
Loobah  woman,  i.  409. 

Madikajim,  ii.  201. 
Madoqua  antelopes,  i.  244. 
Maia  Signora,  i.  107  ;  ii.  474. 
Maize,  i.  248;  preparation  by  Niani- 
niam,  ii.  16;  in  Mbomu's  district,  ii. 
I      254. 

j  Mabzac,  i.  337. 
Manatus,  in  the  Keebaly,  ii.  160. 
Mandeb  (Mimosa  aspirata),  i.  61. 
Manioc,  bearer  poisoned  by,  i.  476 ;  its 

cultivation,  i.  525. 
Manzilly,  the  brook,  i.  458. 
Maogoo,  cattle  from  the,  i.  546 ;  ii.  69  ; 
probable  identity  with  the  Malegga. 
ii.  85. 
Marshes,  mode  of  crossing,  i.  498. 
Matamma,  on  the  Nile,  i.  31k 
Mbahly :  nickname  for  Aboo  Sanmuit. 
i.  481 ;  Munza's  inquiri.s  for,  ii.  3S  ; 
liis  challenge,  ii.  177. 
Mbarik-pah,  the  leaf-cater,  i.  513;  ii. 

202. 
Mbomo,  the  Seriba,  ii.  247,  253. 
Mbrwole,  the  river,  i.  496;  ii.  188,  189. 
Mehemet  Ali,  ii.  431. 
Menagerie,  a,  ii.  278. 
Merdyan's  Seriba,  ii.  204. 
Meshera,  i.  48;  arrival  at  the,  i.  124: 
the  mode  of  anchoring  in,  i.  130 ; 


SIS 


INDEX. 


slart  from  the,  i.  137;  cmbaikation 
from  the,  ii.  469. 

Mice,  i.  273. 

Mimosa,  stranding  on  a,  ii.  260. 

Minstrels,  a  Niam-niam,  i.  445 ;  ii.  30, 
241. 

Mirakok,  i.  145. 

MiTTOo:  tour  in  their  country,  i.  367; 
language,  i.  403 ;  fertility  of  soil,  i. 
405;  ornaments,  i.  411;  biar.  r.<,  i. 
419;' value  as  slaves,  ii.  419. 

Mufio,  ii.  389,  417. 

Molmul,  the  river,  ii.  273,  301. 

Moravoo:  goats  of  the,  ii.  69;  their 
country,  ii.  83. 

MoNBTJTTOo :  pipes,  i.  548 ;  canoes,  i. 
555 ;  charm  of  country,  i.  557 ;  halls^ 
ii.  42 ;  their  curiosity,  ii.  53,  59 ; 
women,  ii.  60,  91 ;  reports  of  territory, 
ii.  81, 82 ;  government,  ii.  86 ;  scenery, 
ii.  86 ;  produce,  ii.  87 ;  hunting,  ii.  89  ; 
cannibalism,  ii.  92 ;  potentates,  ii. 
96;  complexion,  ii.  100;  dialect,  ii. 
102;  coiffure,  ii.  106;  weapons,  ii. 
107,  111 ;  smelting,  ii.  108  ;  tools,  ii. 
112;  benches,  ii.  113;  shields  and 
seat-rests,  ii.  115;  water-bottles,  ii. 
116;  basket-work  and  musical  in- 
struments, ii.  117;  architecture,  ii. 
118;  religion,  ii.  120. 

Money,  iron,  i.  279. 

Mongolongbo,  valley  of,  i.  429. 

Mongono,  ii.  348. 

Monkeys,  i.  488. 

Morokoh,  tlie  river,  ii.  251. 

Mummery,  Munza's  brother,  ii.  72,  74; 
his  body-guard  of  Akka,  ii.  131. 

Mundo,  of  the  Bongo,  i.  241 ;  ii.  258. 

.Minido  in  Zile'i  Mountains,  ii.  210. 

iSIungala,  Niam-niam  game,  ii.  28. 

Muntass  Bey,  Governor  of  Suakin,  i. 
24. 

IMunza  :  messengers  from,  i.  556 ;  view 
of  his  palace,  i.  558 ;  his  friendship 
for  Mohammed,  ii.  37 ;  summons  to, 
ii.  39  ;  waiting  for,  ii.  41 ;  liis  orna- 
mental weapims,  ii.  43,  94  ;  his  cos- 
tume and  appearance,  ii.  45;  pre- 
sents for,  ii.  47 ;  his  mode  of  smok- 
ing, ii.  48 ;   his  oration,  ii.   51 ;  his 


present  to  me,  ii.  52 ;  his  sister,  ii 
58 ;  his  wives,  ii.  58 ;  his  castle,  ii. 
63 ;  his  arsenal,  ii.  64 ;  his  dance,  ii 
75 ;  his  sleeping  apartments,  ii.  77 
visits  from,  ii.  77 ;  his  dish,  ii.  79 
his  harem,  ii.  96 ;  his  household,  ii. 
97  ;  his  wardrobe,  ii.  98. 

Murhaga,  ii.  424. 

Musa  sapientium,  i.  447. 

Mvolo,  district  of,  i.  384 ;  animals  in 
i.  387. 

Mwata  Yanvo,  ii.  99. 

Nabambisso,  the  river,  ii.  193. 

Nalengbe,  Munza's  sister,  ii.  58,  95. 

Names  of  places,  i.  194. 

Ndoruma,  ii.  309. 

Nduppo,  Wando's  brother,  i.  478;  his 
death,  i.  517. 

Nt-mbey,  visit  from,  i.  540 ;  arrival  at, 
ii.  1.53. 

Neophron  pileatus,  i.  97. 

Ngama,  i.  411. 

Nganye,  a  Niam-niam  chieftain,  i.  436 : 
visit  to,  i.  431;  his  ftimily,  i.  450; 
stay  with,  ii.  243. 

Ngoly,  i.  428  ;  ii.  263. 

Ngudoroo,  the  river,  ii.  388. 

Ngulfala,  distillery  in,  i.  238 ;  ii.  403. 

Niam-niam  :  first  sight  of,  i.  189  ;  start 
to  their  country,  i.  416;  their  huts, 
i.  449 ;  their  chiefs,  i.  467 ;  modesty 
of  the  women,  i.  471 ;  morning 
toilette,  i.  491 ;  names  of,  ii.  3 ; 
their  country,  ii.  3 ;  their  appearance, 
ii.  5;  clothing,  ii  6;  head-gear,  ii. 
7 ;  decorations,  ii.  8  ;  trumbashes,  ii 
9 ;  weapons,  ii.  10 ;  hunting  and 
agriculture,  ii.  12 ;  beer,  ii.  13 ; 
pipes,  ii.  14;  dogs,  ii.  15,  241  ;  archi- 
tecture, ii.  20 ;  chieftains,  ii.  21 ; 
emblems  of  war,  ii.  23 ;  handicraft, 
ii.  25;  greetings,  ii.  27;  marriages 
and  conjugal  affection,  ii.  28 ;  music, 
ii.  29;  dialect,  ii.  31;  auguries,  ii. 
'ri2 ;  superstition  and  treatment  of 
dead,  ii.  34;  attack  by,ii.  236;  value 
as  slaves,  ii.  419. 

Nile-boat-s  crowded,  i.  50  ;  ii.  478. 

Nilometer,  piopo-sed,  i.  41. 


INDEX. 


519 


No,  Lake,  i.  Ill,  112. 

Nsewne,  the  Akka,  ii.  132;  liis  love  of 

mischief,  ii.  14-1. 
Nubians:    their  pitiable  condition,  i. 

41 ;  their  superstitions,  i.  49 ;  ii.  322  ; 

how  to  deal  with  them,  i.  421 ;  tlieir 

inconsistency,  ii.  165;   their  dislike 

to   pure   water,   ii.   275 ;  soldiers,   i. 

176. 
Nueir,   district    of   the,   i.   117;    their 

habits,  i.  119. 
Nyemata,  Mount,  i.  67. 
Nyitti,  i.  251. 
Nymplixa  steUata  and  N.  lotus,  i.  114. 

0-BONGO,  ii.  135. 

Oil  palm,  ii.  89 ;  oil  from,  ii.  92. 

0-mareg,  summer  retreat  from  Suakin, 

1.31. 
Ombet  (dragon-tree),  i.  22. 
Ori,  Dr.,  letter  to  Antinori,  ii.  80  ;  his 

death,  ii.  486. 
Oysters,  river,  ii.  452. 

Papykds,  i.  109;  at  the  Kyt,  1.  126. 

Parkia-trees,  ii.  339. 

Parley  with  Niam-niam  chiefs,  ii.  169. 

Farra  africanus,  i.  136. 

Parrots,  grey,  ii.  9. 

Peneeo,  the  behnky,  i.  436. 

Penicillaria,  i.  248. 

Pepper,   cayenne,  i.  253;    malaghetta, 

i.  468 ;  Ashantee,  ii.  382. 
Petherick,  i.  127. 
Piaggia,  his  visit  to  the   Niam-niam, 

i.  434,  504 ;  inquiries  about,  i.  480 ; 

ii.  56 ;  his  lake,  ii.  65. 
Pillen-wasp  (^Eurnenes  tinctor),  i.  321. 
Plantains,  i.  198;  ii.  87,88. 
I'latycerium  elephantotis,  i.  538. 
Plotus  melanogasfer,  i.  114. 
Polopterus  bichir,  i.  135,  232. 
Poncet,  the  brothers,  contract  with  the 

government,  i.  382  ;  their  settlement, 

1.  393. 
Pougo,  the  river,  ii.  344. 
Popukky  grass,  i.  437,  447. 
I'ort  Rek,  i.  125;  ii.  467. 
Posts,  memorial,  i.  517. 
Pusliyoli,  a  Treculia,  i.  528, 


I  Pygmies  :  my  incredulity  about,  i.  68  ; 
exchange  a  dog  for  a  pygmy,  ii.  67  : 
stories  about,  ii.  153.  {Vide  Akka.) 
Python  Seh.r,  killed  near  Fashoda,  i. 
83;  and  antelope  killed  together, 
i.  364. 

Quinine,  i.  128  ;  value  of,  i.  323. 

Rainfall,  ii.  281 
I  Baphia  vinifera,  i.  199;  used  for  build- 
j      ing,  ii.  42. 

Rats,  ii.  405. 

Red  Sea,  voyage  on,  i.  11 ;  heat  on, 
i.  15  ;  nights  on,  i.  18. 

Reed-rats,  ii.  384 ;  hunting,  ii.  408, 
446. 

Reggo,  i.  392. 

Rek,  Port,  i.  125 ;  ii.  467. 

Rhinoceros-bird  ( Tetmoceras  abyssi- 
nicus),  ii.  205. 

Rice,  i.  247. 

Riharn,  my  cook,  i.  60,  486;  ii.  204. 

Rikketo,  Wando's  brother,  i.  479;  enter- 
taining, i.  486 ;  visit  to,  i.  487  ;  his 
wives,  i.  489. 

Roah,  the  river,  i.  367. 

Rock  rabbits,  i.  385. 

Rold,  the  river,  i.  376,  401. 

Rokko-coats  of  Monbuttoo,  ii.  104. 

Rokooba,  ii.  289. 

Roway,  salt-works  at,  i.  16. 

Rye,  the  river,  1.  448. 

Sabby  (Seriba),  i.  337,  340 ;  ii.  264. 

Sablook,  i.  40. 

Salt-works  at  Cape  Roway.  i.  16. 

Sarcocephalus,  i.  192. 

Schw-einfurthia,  i.  35. 

Scorbutic  attack,  ii.  381 

Scorpions,  ii.  456. 

Seebehr  Rahama,  ii.  329 ;  his  Seriba. 
ii.  354;  his  couii,  ii.  361 ;  dtpartuie 
from,  ii.  374. 

Sehre,  ii.  395,  397,  401. 

Seriba,  i.  47;  Ghattas's,  i.  172;  de- 
struction of  a,  i.  225;  law,  i.  22(1; 
controllers  of,  ii.  426;  Sliercefee's. 
i.  310. 

Sesame,  i.  229. 


520 


INDEX. 


Seyleb  (Sahseviera  .  i.  22. 

Sliary,  identity  with  the  Welle,  i.  553.    j 

Shekka,  ii.  370. 

Shcreefce,  his  Seriba  Duggoo,  i.  343 ; 
his  Seriba  Dogguddoo,  i.  344: ;  dearth 
in  his  Seribas,  ii.  267 ;  attacks  Mo- 
hammed, ii.  85;  shielded  by  the 
Aga,  ii.  358. 

SniLLOOKS:  first  sight  of,  i.  72;  sta- 
tistics, i.  85 ;  tlieir  villages,  i.  87 ; 
their  animals,  i.  91 ;  pursuit  by,  i. 
101 ;  market,  i.  101 ;  ii.  471. 

Shipbuilding  in  Khartoom,  i.  51. 

Shol,  the  Dinka  queen,  i.  141 ;  her 
riches  and  influence,  i.  131 ;  her 
appearance,  i.  132;  presents  to,  i. 
134 ;  her  death,  ii.  338 ;  remains  of 
her  huts,  ii.  469. 

Slioosh-grass  {Fanicum  turgidum),  i. 
53. 

Short  rations,  ii.  196. 

Siiigat,  i.  24. 

Skins,  abundance  of,  i.  481. 

Skulls,  purchase  of,  ii.  54;  in  Berlin 
Museum,  ii.  32. 

Slaves  crowded  in  boats,  i.  50 ;  ii.  478 ; 
as  jjayment  to  soldiers,  i.  175  ;  dying 
of  starvation,  i.  346  ;  feeding  a  cara- 
van of,  i.  368 ;  complaints  of  female, 
i.  390 ;  cruelty  to,  ii.  414 ;  price  of, 
ii.  418 ;  comparative  value  of,  ii.  419 ; 
number  of,  ii.  420 ;  as  soldiers,  ii.  421 ; 
private,  ii.  422  ;  employed  in  hus- 
bandry, ii.  425  ;  treatment  in  Egypt, 
ii.  436 ;  on  board  the  Nile  boat,  ii. 
470 ;  at  Wod  Shellay,  ii.  480 ;  con- 
fiscation of,  ii.  483. 

Slave-dealer  from  Tunis,  i.  189. 

Slave-trade  :  independent  of  ivory 
trade,  i.  46 ;  population  of  Bongo- 
land  diminished  by,  i.  260 ;  tacitly 
acknowledged,  i.  381 ;  all  enuerprise.« 
involved  in,  i.  383;  flourishing  in 
1870  and  1871,  ii.  410;  sources  of, 
ii.  428  ;  abolition  of,  ii.  433 ;  measures 
taken  in  Fanekama  against,  ii.  478. 

Slave-traders:  iniquity  of,  i.  190;  ren- 
dezvous at  Shekka  for,  ii.  370 ;  goods 
bartered  by.  ii.  411 ;  description  of, 
ii.  412;  risks  incurred   by,  ii.  415; 


hospitality  shown  to,  ii.  416;  cla«scs 
of,  ii.  417. 
Smeltiug-fumaces :     of   the    Dyuor,  i. 

207  ;  of  the  Bongo,  i.  208,  278 
Sobat,  the  river,  i.  100. 
Soiree  musicale  of  the  Bongo,  i.  354. 
Soldiers:  Nubian,  i.  176;  black,  i.  4S3. 
Soliman,  son  of  Kurshook  Ali,  ii.  452. 
Solar  phenomenon,  i.  326. 
Solongoh,  ii.  389. 
Sorghum,  i.  245 ;  ii.  252. 
Sources  of  slave-trade,  ii.  428. 
Sparmannia,  ii.  200. 
Speke,  i.  113,  319 ;  ii.  126. 
Spiro  streptus,  i.  214. 
Squirrels    {Sciurus    leucumbriniis),    i. 

387. 
Steps  counted  in  walking,  ii.  300. 
Sterculia,  ii.  393. 

Steudner,  Dr.,  i.  129  ;  death  of,  ii.  337. 
Suseda  (samphire),  i.  17. 
Suakin,  sea-route  to,  i.  10;  excursion 

from,  i.  19 ;  return  to,  ii.  488. 
Suez,  blunders  in  telegram,  i.  7 ;  scenes 

in  governor's  divan,  i.  8,  9  ;  canal,  i. 

10. 
Sugar-canes,  i.  547. 
Sulphur-works  at  Gimsah,  i.  12. 
Sun,  eclipse  of,  i.  11. 
Suppression  of  slave-trade,  suggestions 

for,  ii.  439. 
Surroor,  Aboo  Sammat's  lieutenant,  i. 

465 ;    his    mbanga,  i.   470 ;    speaks 

Arabic,  i.  473. 
Swamp-men,  i.  119. 
Sway,  the    river,    identical   with    the 

Dyoor,  i.  453 ;  crossing  the,  ii.  228. 
Swords,  ii.  457. 

Take,  village  of,  i.  145 ;  ii.  467. 

Telegram,  i.  7 ;  ii.  482. 

Terminalia,  i.  426. 

Thibaud,  ii.  482. 

TikkitikM,     ii.     133;      parting     from 

friends,  ii.  149 ;    successful  shooting, 

ii.  278,  450  ;  illness  and  death,  ii. 

486. 
Tinne,  Miss,  fatality  of  expedition,  i. 

129 ;  her  he:idquarters,  ii.  332 ;  her 

motlier,  ii.  338. 


INDEX. 


521 


Tobacco,  i.  160,  214,  254,  269;  ii.  14, 

87. 
Tokkuls,  i.  178. 
Tombo,  king,  i.  4S0. 
Tondy,  tlie  river,  i.  181 ;  passage  over, 

i.  336 ;  suspension-bridge  over,  ii.  43, 

44  ;  crossing  the,  ii.  2G9. 
Transport,   means  of,  i.  139 ;  ii.  305 ; 

suggestion  for,  ii.  307. 
Travelling  costume,  i.  425. 
Troglodytes  niger.  i.  .^119. 
Trumbasb,  i.  441 ;  ii.  9. 
Trumpet-tree,  ii.  157. 
Tubers,  i.  250,  2H8,  445 
Tudyee,  the  river,  i.  366,  426. 
Tuharay,  arrival  of,  i.  542 ;  his  Seriba, 

ii.  201,  209. 
Turks,  ii.  3.59. 

Urostigma  Kotscliyana,  ii.  88  ;   bast  of, 

ii.  102. 
Usnea  (beard-moss),  i.  26. 
(Jzze,  the  river,  i.  477. 

Valisneria,  in  the  Gazelle,  i.  123. 

Vasel,  ii.  485. 

Vayssiere,  the  French  hunter,  i.  185. 

Vegetation  of  Nile  displaced  by  civili- 
zation, i.  69. 

Viceroy,  hon  mot  of,  i.  113;  smull 
power  of,  ii.  441. 

Victoria  regia,  attempt  to  naturalize,  i. 
121. 

Vine,  wild,  ii.  234. 

Vicera  genetta,  i.  490. 

Wando:  animosity  of,  i.  482;  river  of, 


i.  496 ;  Mohammed's  interview  with 

i.  501,  504;  his  nonchalance,  i.  505: 

his    present    of    food,   i.    511 ;    his 

augury,  ii.  33,  49. 
Watches,  ii.  299. 
Water,  bad,  ii.  400. 

birds,  ii.  315. 

lilies,  i.  114. 

plants,  i.  121.- 

slied  of  Nile,  i.  494. 

Welle,  the  river,  i.  548,  5.54. 
White-ants  :  their  hills,  i.  120  ;  of  the 

trees,  i.  539 ;  as  food,  ii.  197. 
White  Nile,  embarkation  on,  i.  49. 
Widow-ducks,  i.  121. 
Wild  boar  shot,  i.  363. 
Wofl  Shellay,  i.  56 :  ii.  480. 
Wounds,  Mittoo  treatment  of,  i.  371  ; 

by  arrows,  ii.  279  ;  Dyoor  treatment 

of,  ii.  334. 
Wow,  the  Seriba,  i.  91. 
Wow,  the  river,  i.  190 ;  ii.  333. 

Yabo,  i.  476. 

Yabongo,  i.  476  ;  ii.  193. 

Yams,  i.  250. 

Yangas  grave,  i.  285. 

Yolo-antelopes,  ii.  446. 

Yubbo,  the  river,  i.  478 ;  ii.  192. 

Yumnia,  Kurshook    All's    Vokeol,   ii. 

884,  389. 
Yuroo,  i.  531. 

Zawa-trees,  i.  447;  ii.  200. 
I  Zebra-ichneumon,  i.  358. 
Zilei  Mountains,  ii.  210. 


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perial Majesty  Napoleon  III.    Two  Volumes  ready.   Library  Edition,  Svo,  Cloth, 
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Maps  to  Vols.  I.  and  II.  sold  separately.    Price  $1  50  each,  net. 

HAYDN'S  DICTIONARY  OF  DATES,  relating  to  all  Ages  and  Nations.  For  Uni- 
versal Reference.  Edited  by  Benjamin  Vincent,  Assistant  Secretary  and  Keeper 
of  the  Library  of  the  Roval  institution  of  Great  Britain  ;  and  Revised  for  the  Use 
of  American  Readers.    Svo,  Cloth,  $5  00 ;  Sheep,  $6  00. 

MACGREGOR'S  ROB  ROY  ON  THE  JORDAN.  The  Rob  Boy  on  the  Jordan, 
Nile,  Red  Sea,  and  Geunesareth,  &c.  A  Canoe  Cruise  in  Palestine  and  Egypt, 
and  the  Waters  of  Damascus.  By  J.  Maoqregor,  M.A.  With  Maps  and  Illus- 
trations.    Crown  Svo,  Cloth,  $2  50. 

WALLACE'S  MALAY  ARCHIPELAGO.  The  Malay  Archipelago :  the  Land  of  the 
Orang-Utan  and  the  Bird  of  Paradise.  A  Narrative  of  Travel,  1854-1862.  With 
Studies  of  Man  and  Nature.  By  Alfred  Rursel  Wallace.  With  Ten  Maps 
and  Fifty-one  Elegant  Illustrations.    Crown  Svo,  Cloth,  $2  50. 

WHYMPER'S  ALASKA.  Travel  and  Adventure  in  the  Territory  of  Alaska,  for- 
merly Russian  America — now  Ceded  to  the  United  Stntes — and  in  various  other 
parts  of  the  North  Pacific.  By  Frederick  Whtmper.  With  Map  and  Illustra- 
tions.    Crown  Svo,  Cloth,  $2  50. 

ORTON'S  ANDES  AND  THE  AMAZON.  The  Andes  and  the  Amazon ;  or,  Across 
the  Continent  of  South  America.  By  James  Orton,  M.A.,  Professor  of  Natural 
History  in  Vassar  College,  Poughkeepsie,  N.  Y.,  and  Corresponding  Member  of 
the  Academy  of  Natural  Sciences,  Philadelphia.  With  a  New  Map  of  Equatorial 
America  and  numerous  Illustrations.    Crowu  Svo,  Cloth,  $2  00. 

WINCHELL'S  SKETCHES  OF  CREATION.  Sketches  of  Creation :  a  Popular 
View  of  some  of  the  Grand  Conclusions  of  the  Sciences  in  reference  to  the  His- 
tory of  Matter  and  of  Life.  Together  with  a  Statement  of  the  Intimations  of 
Science  respecting  the  Primordial  Condition  and  the  LTltimate  Destiny  of  the 
Earth  and  the  Solar  System.  By  Alexander  Winciiell,  LL.D.,  Professor  of 
Geology,  Zoology,  and  Botany  in  the  University  of  Michigan,  and  Director  of  the 
State  Geological  Survey.    With  Illustrations.    12nio,  Cloth,  $2  00. 

WHITE'S  MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW.  The  Massacre  of  St.  Bartholo- 
mew :  Preceded  by  a  History  of  the  Religious  Wars  in  the  Reign  of  Charles  IX. 
By  Henry  White,  M.A.    With  Illustrations.    Svo,  Cloth,  $1  75. 

RECLUS'S  THE  EARTH.  The  Earth  :  a  Descriptive  History  of  the  Phenomena 
and  Life  of  the  Globe.  By  Elibee  Reolus.  Translated  by  the  late  B.  B.  Wood- 
ward, and  Edited  by  Henry  Woodward.  With  234  Maps  and  Illustrations,  and 
23  Page  Maps  printed  in  Colors.     Svo,  Cloth,  $5  00. 

RECLUS'S  OCEAN.  The  Ocean,  Atmosphere,  and  Life.  Being  the  Second  Series 
of  a  Descriptive  History  of  the  Life  of  the  Globe.  By  £li8^k  Reclus.  Pro- 
fusely Illustrated  with  250  Maps  or  Figures,  and  27  Maps  printed  iu  Colors. 
Svo,  Cloth,  $6  00. 


Harper  &=  Brothers'  Valuable  and  Interesting  Works.      3 

LOSSING'S  FIELD-BOOK  OF  THE  REVOLUTION.    Pictorial  Field-Book  of  the 

Revolution;  or,  Illustrations,  by  Pen  and  Pencil,  of  the  History,  Biography, 
Scenery,  Relics,  and  Traditions  of  the  War  for  Independence.  By  Bknbox  J. 
L08SING.  2  vols.,  8vo,  Cloth,  $14  00;  Sheep,  $15  00;  Half  Calf,  $18  00;  Full 
Turkey  Morocco,  $22  00. 

LOSSING'S  FIELD-BOOK  OF  THE  WAR  OF  1812.    Pictorial  Field-Book  of  th( 

War  of  1812;  or,  Illustrations,  by  Pen  and  Pencil,  of  the  History,  Bioijraphy, 
Scenery,  Relics,  and  Traditions  of  the  Last  War  for  American  Inde])endence.  By 
Benson  J.  Lossino.  With  several  hundred  Engravings  on  Wood,  by  Lossing  and 
Barritt,  chiefly  from  Original  Sketches  by  the  Author.  lOSS  pages,  Svo,  Cloth, 
$7  00  ;  Sheep,  $8  50  ;  Half  Calf,  $1000. 

ALFORD'S  GREEK  TESTAMENT.  The  Greek  Testament :  with  a  critically  revised 
Text ;  a  Digest  of  Various  Readings  ;  Marginal  References  to  Verbal  and  Idio- 
matic Usage  ;  Prolegomena  ;  and  a  Critical  and  Exegetical  Commer.tary.  For 
the  Use  of  Theological  Students  and  Ministers.  By  Hknky  Alforu,  D.D.,  Dean 
of  Canterbury.  Vol.  I.,  containing  the  Four  Gospels.  944  pages,  Svo,  Cloth, 
$0  00  ;  Sheep,  $6  50. 

ABBOTT'S  FREDERICK  THE  GREAT.  The  History  of  Frederick  the  Second, 
called  Frederick  the  Great.  By  Joun  S.  C.  Aubott.  Elegantly  Illustrated.  Svo, 
Cloth,  $5  00. 

ABBOTT'S  HISTORY  OF  THE  FRENCH  REVOLUTION.  The  French  Revolu. 
tion  of  1TS9,  as  viewed  in  the  Light  of  Republican  Institutions.  By  Joun  S.  C.  Ab- 
bott.   With  100  Engravings.   'Svo,  Cloth,  $5  00. 

ABBOTT'S  NAPOLEON  BONAPARTE.  The  History  of  Napoleon  Bonaparte.  By 
John  S.  C.  Auhott.  With  Maps,  Woodcuts,  and  Portraits  on  Steel.  2  vols., 
Svo,  Cloth,  $10  00. 

ABBOTT'S  NAPOLEON  AT  ST.  HELENA ;  or,  Interesting  Anecdotes  and  Remark- 
able Conversations  of  the  Emperor  during  the  Five  and  a  Half  Years  of  his 
Captivity.  Collected  from  the  Memorials  of  Las  Casas,  O'Meara,  Montholon, 
Antommarchi,  and  others.  By  Joun  S.  C.  Abbott.  With  Illustrations.  Svo, 
Cloth,  $5  00. 

ADDISON'S  COMPLETE  WORKS.  The  Works  of  Joseph  Addison,  embracing  the 
whole  of  the  "Spectator."    Complete  in  3  vols.,  Svo,  Cloth,  $0  00. 

ALCOCK'S  JAPAN.  The  Capital  of  the  Tycoon :  a  Narrative  of  a  Three  Years' 
Residence  in  Japan.  By  Sir  Rdtherfobb  Alcock,  K.C.B.,  Her  Majesty's  Envoy 
Extraordinary  and  Minister  Plenipotentiary  in  Japan.  With  Maps  and  Engravings. 
2  vols.,  12mo,"Cloth,  $3  50. 

ALISON'S  HISTORY  OF  EUROPE.  Fiest  Series  :  From  the  Commencement  of 
the  French  Revolution,  in  1789,  to  the  Restoration  of  the  Bourbons,  in  1815.  [  In 
addition  to  the  Notes  on  Chapter  LXXVI.,  which  correct  the  errors  of  the 
original  work  concerning  the  United  States,  a  copious  Analytical  Index  has  beeu 
appended  to  this  American  edition.]  Seoond  Seeieb  :  From  the  Fall  of  Napoleon, 
in  1S15,  to  the  Accession  of  Louis  Napoleon,  in  1852.    8  vols.,  Svo,  Cloth,  $10  00. 

BALDWIN'S  PRE-HISTORIC  NATIONS.  Pre-Historic  Nations ;  or,  Inquiries  con- 
cerning some  of  the  Great  Peoples  and  Civilizations  of  Antiquity,  and  their 
Probable  Relation  to  a  still  Older  Civilization  of  the  Ethiopians  or  Cushites  of 
Arabia.  By  John  D.  Baldwin,  Member  of  the  American  Oriental  Society. 
12mo,  Cloth,  $1  75. 

BARTH'S  NORTH  AND  CENTRAL  AFRICA.  Travels  and  Discoveries  in  North 
and  Central  Africa:  being  a  Journal  of  an  Expedition  undertaken  under  the 
Auspices  of  H.  B.  M.'s  Government,  in  the  Years  1849-1855.  By  Heney  Bartu, 
Ph.D.,  D.C.L.    Illustrated.    3  vols.,  Svo,  Cloth,  $12  00. 

HENRY  WARD  BEECHER'S  SERMONS.     Sermons  by  Henry  Ward  Beeoiif.r, 

Plymouth  Church,  Brooklyn.  Selected  from  Published  and  Unpublished  Dis- 
course.?, and  Revised  by  their  Author.    With  Steel  Portrait.    Complete  in  2  vols., 

Svo,  Cloth,  $5  00. 

LYMAN  BEECHER'S  AUTOBIOGRAPHY,  &o.  Autobiography,  Correspondence, 
&c.,  of  Lyman  Beecher,  D.D.  Edited  by  his  Son,  Charles  Beecuer.  With  Three 
Steel  Portraits,  and  Engravings  on  Wood.     In  2  vols.,  12mo,  Cloth,  $5  00. 

BOSWELL'S  JOHNSON.  The  Life  of  Sainufsl  Johnson.  LL.D.  Including  a  Journey 
to  the  Hebrides.  By  James  Boswell,  Esq.  A  New  Edition,  with  numerous 
Additions  and  Notes.  By  John  Wilson  Ceokee,  LL.D.,  F.R.S.  Portrait  of 
Boswell.     2  vols.,  Svo.  Cloth,  $4  Oa 

SARA  COLERIDGE'S    MEMOIR   AND  LETTERS.    Memoir  and  Letters  of  Sar« 

Coleridge.    Edited  by  her  Daughter.    With  Two  Portraits  ou  Steel.    Crown  Svo, 

Cloth,  $2  50. 
SHAKSPEARE.    The  Dramatic  Works  of  William  Shakspeare,  with  the  Corrections 

and  Illustrations  of  Dr.  Johnson   G.  Steevkns,  and  others.    Revised  by  Isaao 

Rebd.    Engravings.    6  vols..  Royal  Timo,  Cloth,  $9  00. 


4      Harper  &>  Brothers'  Valuable  and  Interesting  Works. 


•DRAPER'S  CIVIL  WAR.  History  of  the  American  Civil  War.  By  John  W.  Dka- 
VKB,  M.I).,  LL.D.,  Professor  of  Cliemistry  and  Physiology  in  the  University  of 
New  York.    lu  Three  Vols.    8vo,  Cloth,  $3  50  per  vol. 

DRAPER'S  INTELLECTUAL  DEVELOPMENT  OF  EUROPE.  A  History  of  the 
Intellectual  Development  of  Europe.  By  John  W.  Draper,  M.D.,  LL.D.,  Profess- 
or of  Chemistry  and  Physiology  in  the  University  of  New  York.    Svo,  Ck)th,  $5  00 

DRAPER'S  AMERICAN  CIVIL  POLICY.  Thoughts  on  the  Future  Civil  Policy  of 
America.  By  John  W.  Draper,  M.D.,  LL.D.,  Professor  of  Chemistry  and  Physiol- 
ogy in  the  University  of  New  York.    Crown  Svo,  Cloth,  $2  50. 

DU  CHAILLU'S  AFRICA.  Explorations  and  Adventures  in  Equatorial  Africa  with 
Accounts  of  the  Manners  and  Customs  of  the  People,  and  of  the  Chase  of  the  Go- 
rilla, the  Crocodile,  Leopard,  Elephant,  Hippopotamus,  and  other  Animals.  By 
Padi.  B.  Dn  Chailuj.   Numerous  Illustrations.    Svo,  Cloth,  $5  00. 

BELLOW.S'S  OLD  WORLD.  The  Old  World  in  its  New  Pace :  Impressions  of  Eu- 
rope iu  1867-1S68.    By  Henky  W.  Bellows.    2  vols.,  12mo,  Cloth,  $3  50. 

•BROD  HEAD'S  HISTORY  OF  NEW  YORK.  History  of  the  State  of  New  York. 
By  John  Romeyn  Bkodhead.    1609-1691.    2  vols.    Svo,  Cloth,  $3  00  per  vol. 

BROUGHAM'S  AUTOBIOGRAPHY.  Life  and  Times  of  Henry,  Lorp  Beougham. 
Written  by  Himself.    In  Three  Volumes.    12mo,  Cloth,  $2  00  per  vol. 

BULWER'S  PROSE  WORKS.  Miscellaneous  Prose  Works  of  Edward  Bulwer, 
Lord  Lytton.     2  vols.,  12mo,  Cloth,  $3  50. 

BULWER'S  HORACE.  The  Odes  and  Epodes  of  Horace.  A  Metrical  Translation 
into  English.  With  Introduction  and  Commentaries.  By  Lord  Lytton.  With 
Latin  Text  from  the  Editions  of  Orelli,  Macleane,  and  Yonge.    12mo,  Cloth,  $1  75. 

BULWER'S  KING  ARTHUR.  A  Poem.  By  Earl  Lytton.  New  Edition.  12mo, 
Cloth,  $1  75. 

BURNS'S  LIFE  AND  WORKS.  The  Life  and  Works  of  Robert  Burns.  Edited 
by  Robert  Chambers.    4  vols.,  12mo,  Cloth,  $6  00. 

REINDEER,  DOGS,  AND  SNOW-SHOES.  A  Journal  of  Siberian  Travel  and  Ex- 
plorations made  iu  the  Years  lS65-'67.  By  Richard  J.  Bcsu,  late  of  the  Russo- 
American  Telegraph  Expedition.    Illustrated.    Crown  Svo,  Cloth,  $3  00. 

CARLYLfi'S  FREDERICK  THE  GREAT.  History  of  Friedrich  II.,  called  Frederick 
the  Great.  By  Thomas  Carlyle.  Portraits,  Maps,  Plans.  &c.  6  vols.,  12mo, 
Cloth,  $12  00. 

CARLYLE'S  FRENCH  REVOLUTION.  History  of  the  French  Revolution.  Newly 
Revised  by  the  Author,  with  Index,  &c.    2  vols.,  12mo,  Cloth,  .$3  50. 

CARLYLE'S  OLIVER  CROMWELL.  Letters  and  Speeches  of  Oliver  Cromwell. 
With  Elucidations  and  Connecting  Narrative.    2  vols.,  12mo,  Cloth,  $3  50. 

CHALMERS'S  POSTHUMOUS  WORKS.    The  Posthumous  Works  of  Dr.  Chalmers. 
Edited  by  his  Son-in-Law,  Rev.  William  Hanna,  LL.D.    Complete  in  9  vols., 
■     12mo,  Cloth,  $13  50. 

COLERIDGE'S  COMPLETE  WORKS.  The  Complete  Works  of  Samuel  Taylor 
Coleridge.  With  an  Introductory  Essay  upon  his  Philosophical  and  Theological 
Opinions.  Edited  by  Professor  "SuEDn.  Complete  in  Seven  Vols.  With  a  fine 
Portrait.    Small  Svo,  Cloth,  $10  50. 

DOOLITTLE'S  CHINA.  Social  Life  of  the  Chinese :  with  some  Account  of  their  Re  - 
ligious.  Governmental,  Educational,  and  Business  Customs  and  Opinions.  With 
special  but  not  exclusive  Reference  to  Fnhchau.  By  Rev.  Justus  Doolittle, 
Fourteen  Y'ears  Member  of  the  Fuhchau  Mission  of  the  American  Board.  Illus- 
trated with  more  than  150  characteristic  Engravings  on  Wood.  2  vols.,  12mo, 
Cloth,  $5  00.  as  I  . 

GIBBON'S  ROME.  History  of  the  Decline  and  Fall  of  the  Roman  Empire.  By  Ei>- 
WARn  Gibbon.  With  Notes  by  Rev.  H.  H.  Milman  and  M.  Gcizot.  A  new  cheap 
Edition.  To  which  is  added  a  complete  Index  of  the  whole  Work,  and  a  Portrait 
of  the  Author.    6  vols.,  12mo,  Cloth,  $9  00. 

HAZEN'S  SCHOOL  AND  ARMY  IN  GERMANY  AND  PRANCE.  The  School 
and  the  Army  in  Germany  and  France,  with  a  Diary  of  Siege  Life  at  Versailles. 
By  Brevet  Major-General  W.  B.  Hazen.  U.S.A.,  Colonel  Sixth  Infantry.  Crown 
Svo,  Cloth,  $2  ,'50.  •' 

TYERMAN'S  WESLEY.  The  Life  and  Times  of  the  Rev.  John  Wesley,  M.A., 
Founder  of  the  Methodists.  By  the  Rev.  Luke  Tyerman,  Author  of  "The  Life 
of  Rev.  Samuel  Wesley."    Portraits.     3  vols.,  Crown  Svo,  Cloth,  $7  50. 

VAMBfiRY'S  CENTRAL  ASIA.     Travels  in  Central  Asia.    Being  the  Account  of  a 

^ '■• — "'"" .^-  -     .  ,.        .         ..     „  ^.  ,^^^ 

By 

-       ,  _,    vhom  he 

was  sent  on  this  Scientific  Mission.    With  Map  and  Woodcuts.    Svo,  Cloth,  $4  50. 


Harper  &>  Brothers'  Valuable  and  Interesting  Works.      5 

THOMSON'S  LAND  AND  THE  BOOK.  The  Laud  and  the  Book:  or,  Bil.Iiinl 
Illustrations  drawn  from  the  Manners  and  Customs,  the  Scenes  and  the  Scenery 
of  the  Holy  Laud.  By  \V.  M.  Tmomso.n,  D.D.,  Twenty-five  Years  a  Mis^siouary 
of  the  A.  B.  C.  F.  M.  in  Syria  and  Palestine.  With  two  elaborate  Maps  of  Pales- 
tine, an  accurate  Plan  of  Jerusalem,  and  several  hundred  Engravin-^s,  represeuti;; 
the  Scenery,  Topography,  and  Productions  of  the  Holy  Land,  and  the  Costumes, 
Manners,  aud  Habits  of  the  People.    2  large  12mo  vols.,  Cloth,  $5  00. 

DAVIS'S  CARTHAGE.  Carthage  and  her  Remains  :  being  an  Account  of  the  Exca 
vatious  and  Researches  on  the  Site  of  the  Phoenician  Metropolis  in  Africa  and  other 
adjacent  Places.  Conducted  under  the  Auspices  of  Her  Majestv's  Government. 
Bv  Dr.  Davis,  F.R.G.S.  Profusely  Illustrated  with  Maps,  Woodcuts,  Chronio- 
Lithographs,  &c.     Svo,  Cloth,  $4  00. 

EDGEVVORTH'S  (Miss)  NOVELS.   With  Engravings.    10  vols.,  12rao,  Cloth,  $!.■>  m. 

SROTE'S  HISTORY  OP  GREECE.    12  vols.,  12mo,  Cloth,  $18  00. 

HELPS'S  SPANISH  CONQUEST.  The  Spanish  Conquest  in  America,  and  its  Rela- 
tion to  the  History  of  Slavery  and  to  the  Government  of  Colonies.  By  Aktiiur 
Heli-s.    4  vols.,  12mo,  Cloth,  $6  00. 

ELALE'S  (Mks.)  WOMAN'S  RECORD.  Woman's  Record  :  or.  Biographical  Sketches 
of  all  Distinguished  Women,  from  the  Creation  to  the  Present  Time.  Arranged 
in  Four  Eras,  with  Selections  from  Female  Writers  of  each  Era.  By  Mrs.  Sarah 
JoBEPUA  Hale.    Illustrated  with  more  than  200  Portraits.    Svo,  Cloth,  $5  00. 

HALL'S  ARCTIC  RESEARCHES.  Arctic  Researches  and  Life  amou-'  the  Esqui 
maux:  being  the  Narrative  of  an  Expedition  in  Search  of  Sir  John  Franklin,  in 
the  Years  IStjO,  1S61,  aud  1862.  By  Cuaeles  Francis  Hall.  With  Maps  and  100 
Illustrations.  The  Illustrations  are  from  Original  Drawings  by  Charles  Parsons, 
Henry  L.  Stephens,  Solomon  Evtiuge,  W.  S.  L.  Jewett,  and  Granville  Perkins, 
after  Sketches  by  Captain  Hall.  "  Svo,  Cloth,  $5  00. 

HALLAM'S  CONSTITUTIONAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND,  from  the  Accession  of 
Henry  VIL  to  the  Death  of  George  IL    Svo,  Cloth,  $2  00. 

HALLAM'S  LITERATURE.  Introduction  to  the  Literature  of  Europe  during  the 
Fifteenth,  Sixteenth,  and  Seventeenth  Centuries.  By  Henky  Hallam.  2  vols., 
Svo,  Cloth,  $4  00. 

HALLAM'S  MIDDLE  AGES.  State  of  Europe  during  the  Middle  Ages.  By  Henev 
Hai-lam.     Svo,  Cloth,  $2  00. 

HILDRETH'S  HISTORY  OP  THE  UNITED  STATES  Fibst  Series  :  From  the 
First  Settlement  of  the  Country  to  the  Adoption  of  the  Federal  Constitution. 
Seoonb  Series  :  From  the  Adoption  of  the  Federal  Constitution  to  the  End  of 
the  Sixteenth  Congress.    6  vols.,  Svo,  Cloth,  $1S  00. 

HUME'S  HISTORY  OP  ENGLAND.  History  of  England,  from  the  Invasion  of  Ju- 
lius Csesar  to  the  Abdication  of  James  IL,  16SS.  By  David  Hume.  A  new  Edi- 
tion, with  the  Author's  last  Corrections  and  Improvements.  To  which  is  Prefix- 
ed a  short  Account  of  his  Life,  written  by  Himself.  With  a  Portrait  of  the  Au- 
thor.    6  vols.,  12mo,  Cloth,  $9  00. 

JAY'S  WORKS.  Complete  Works  of  Rev.  William  Jay :  comprising  his  Sermons, 
Family  Discourses,  Morning  and  Evening  Exercises  for  every  Day  in  the  Year, 
Family  Prayers,  &c.    Author's  enlarged  Edition,  revised.    3  vols.,  Svo,  Cloth, 

$6  00. 

JEFFERSON'S  DOMESTIC  LIFE.  The  Domestic  Life  of  Thomas  Jefferson :  com- 
piled from  Family  Letters  and  Reminiscences  by  his  Great-Granddanghter, 
Sarau  N.  Randolph.  With  Illustrations.  Cro\vn  Svo,  Illuminated  Cloth,  Bev- 
eled Edges,  $2  50. 

JOHNSON'S  COMPLETE  WORKS.  The  Works  of  Samuel  Johnson,  LL.D.  With 
an  Essay  on  his  Life  and  Genius,  by  Arthur  Murpuy,  Esq.  Portrait  of  Johnson. 
2  vols.,  Svo,  Cloth,  $4  00. 

KINGLAKE'S  CRIMEAN  WAR.  The  Invasion  of  the  Crimea,  and  an  Account  of 
its  Prozress  down  to  the  Death  of  Lord  Raglan.  By  Alexander  William  Kino- 
lAKE.  "With  Maps  and  Plans.    Two  Vols,  ready.    i2mo,  Cloth,  $2  00  per  vol. 

alNGSLEY'S  WEST  INDIES.  At  Last:  A  Christmas  in  the  West  Indies.  By 
Charles  Kingslet.    Illustrated.    12mo,  Cloth,  $1  50. 

SPEKE'S  AFRICA.  Journal  of  the  Discovery  of  the  Source  of  the  Nile.  By  Captain 
John  Hannino  Speke,  Captain  H.M.  Indian  Armv,  Fellow  and  Gold  Medalist  of 
the  Roval  Geographical  Society,  Hon.  Corresponding  Member  and  Gold  Medalist 
of  the  French  Geograpliical  Societv,  Ac.  With  Maps  and  Portraits  and  numer.nis 
Illustrations,  chiefly  from  Drawings  by  Captain  Grant.  Svo,  Cloth,  uniform  with 
Livingstone,  Barth,  Burton,  &c.,  $4  00. 

.STRICKLAND'S  (Miss)  QUEENS  OF  SCOTLAND.  Lives  of  the  Queens  of  Scot- 
laud  and  English  Princesses  connected  with  the  Regal  Succession  jf  Great  Brit- 
ain.   By  Agnes  Strickland.    8  vols.,  12mo,  Cloth,  $12  00. 


6     Harper  <S^'  Brothers'  Valuable  and  Interesting  Works. 

KRUMMACHER'S  DAVID,  KING  OP  ISRAEL.  David,  the  King  of  Israel :  a  Por- 
trait drawn  from  Bible  History  and  tiie  Book  of  Psalms.  By  Fkedeeick  William 
KiuiMMAonKii,  D.D.,  Author  of  "Elijah  the  Tishbite,"  &c.  Translated  under  the 
exijre.sfi  Sanction  of  the  Author  by  the  Rev.  M.  G.  Easton,  M.A.  With  a  Letter 
from  Dr.  Krummacher  to  his  American  Readers,  and  a  Portrait.  12mo,  Cloth, 
$175. 

LAMB'S  COMPLETE  WORKS.  The  Worlis  of  Charles  Lamb.  Comprising  his  Let- 
ters, Poems,  Essays  of  Elia,  Essays  upon  Shakspeare,  Hogarth,  &c.,  and  a  Sketch 
of  his  Life,  with  the  Pinal  Memorials,  by  T.  Noon  Talfodkd.  Portrait.  2  vols., 
12mo,  Cloth,  $3  00. 

LIVINGSTONE'S  SOUTH  APRICA.  Missionary  Travels  and  Researches  in  South 
Africa ;  including  a  Sketch  of  Sixteen  Years'  Residence  in  the  Interior  of  Africa, 
and  a  Journey  from  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope  to  Loando  on  the  West  Coast ;  thence 
across  the  Continent,  down  the  River  Zambesi,  to  the  Eastern  Ocean.  By  Davih 
Livingstone,  LL.D.,  D.C.L.  With  Portrait,  Maps  by  Arrowsmith,  and  numerous 
Illustrations.    Svo,  Cloth,  $4  50. 

LIVINGSTONES'  ZAMBESL  Narrative  of  an  Expedition  to  the  Zambesi  and  its 
Tributaries,  and  of  the  Discovery  of  the  Lakes  Shirwa  and  Nyassa.  1858-1864. 
By  David  and  Cuakles  Livingstone.  With  Map  and  Illustrations.  Svo,  Cloth, 
$5  00. 

M'CLINTOCK  &  STRONG'S  CYCLOPEDIA.  Cyclopaedia  of  Biblical,  Theological, 
and  Ecclesiastical  Literature.  Prepared  by  the  Rev.  John  M'Clintook,  D.D., 
and  James  Strong,  S.T.D.  5  vols,  now  ready.  Royal  Svo.  Price  per  vol..  Cloth, 
$5  00  ;  Sheep,  $6  00;  Half  Morocco,  $8  00. 

MARCY'S  ARMY  LIFE  ON  THE  BORDER.  Thirty  Years  of  Army  Life  on  the 
Border.  Comprising  Descriptions  of  the  Indian  Nomads  of  the  Plains ;  Explo- 
rations of  New  Territory;  a  Trip  across  the  Rocky  Mountains  in  the  Winter; 
Descriptions  of  the  Habits  of  Different  Animals  found  in  the  West,  and  the  Meth- 
ods of  Hunting  them  ;  with  Incidents  in  the  Life  of  Different  Frontier  Men,  &c., 
&c.  By  Brevet  Brigadier-General  R.  B.  Marcy,  U.S.A.,  Author  of  "  The  Prairie 
Traveller."    With  numerous  Illustrations.    Svo,  Cloth,  Beveled  Edges,  $3  00. 

MACAULAY'S  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND.  The  History  of  England  from  the  Ac- 
cession of  James  II.  By  Thomas  Babington  Maoaulay.  With  an  Original  Por- 
trait of  the  Author.    5  vols.,  Svo,  Cloth,  $10  00 ;  12mo,  Cloth,  $7  50. 

MOSHEIM'S  ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY,  Ancient  and  Modern  ;  in  which  the 
Rise,  Progress,  and  Variation  of  Church  Power  are  considered  in  their  Connec- 
tion with  the  State  of  Learning  and  Philosophy,  and  the  Political  History  of  Eu- 
rope during  that  Period.  Translated,  with  Notes,  &c.,  by  A.  Maclaine,  D.D. 
A  new  Edition,  continued  to  1826,  by  C.  Coote,  LL.D.    2  vols.,  Svo,  Cloth,  $4  00. 

NEVIUS'S  CHINA.  China  and  the  Chinese :  a  General  Description  of  the  Country 
and  its  Inhabitants ;  its  Civilization  and  Form  of  Government ;  its  Religious  and 
Social  Institutions ;  its  Intercourse  with  other  Nations ;  and  its  Present  Condition 
and  Prospects.  By  the  Rev.  John  L.  Nevius,  Ten  Years  a  Missionary  in  China. 
With  a  Map  and  Illustrations.    12mo,  Cloth,  $1  75. 

IHE  DESERT  OP  THE  EXODUS.  Journeys  on  Foot  in  the  Wilderness  of  the 
Forty  Years'  Wanderings ;  undertaken  in  connection  with  the  Ordnance  Survey 
of  Sinai  and  the  Palestine  Exploration  Fund.  By  E.  H.  Palmer,  M.A.,  Lord 
Almoner's  Professor  of  Arabic,  and  Fellow  of  St.  John's  College,  Cambridge. 
With  Maps  and  numerous  Illustrations  from  Photographs  and  Drawings  taken 
on  the  spot  by  the  Sinai  Survey  Expedition  and  C.  P.  Tyrwhitt  Drake.  Crown 
Svo,  Cloth,  $3  00. 

OLIPHANT'S  CHINA  AND  JAPAN.  Narrative  of  the  Earl  of  Elgin's  Mission  to 
China  and  Japan,  in  the  Years  1857,  '58,  '59.  By  Laurence  Olipiiakt,  Private 
Secretary  to  Lora  Elgin.    Illustrations.    Svo,  Cloth,  $3  50. 

OLIPHANT'S  ONIrs.')  LIFE  OP  EDWARD  IRVING.  The  Life  of  Edward  Irving, 
Minister  of  the  National  Scotch  Church,  London.  Illustrated  by  his  Journals  and 
Correspondence.    By  Mrs.  Ouphant.    Portrait.    Svo,  Cloth,  $3  50. 

RAWLINSON'S  MANUAL  OP  ANCIENT  HISTORY.  A  Manual  of  Ancient  His- 
tory, from  the  Earliest  Times  to  the  Fall  of  the  Western  Empire.  Comprising 
the"  History  of  Chaldsea,  Assyria,  Media,  Babylonia,  Lydia,  Phoenicia,  Syria,  Ju- 
difia,  Egypt,  Carthage,  Persia,  Greece,  Macedonia,  Parthia,  and  Rome.  By 
George  Rawlinson,  M.A.,  Camden  Professor  of  Ancient  History  in  the  Univer- 
sity of  Oxford.    12mo,  Cloth,  $2  50. 

SMILES'S  LIFE  OF  THE  STEPHENSONS.  The  Life  of  George  Stephenson,  and 
of  his  Son,  Robert  Stephenson  ;  comprising,  also,  a  History  of  the  Invention  and 
Introduction  of  the  Railway  Locomotive.  By  Samuel  Smiles,  Author  of  "Self- 
Help,"  &c.     With  Steel  Portraits  and  numerous  Illustrations.    Svo,  Cloth,  $3  00. 

SMILES'S  HISTORY  OF  THE  HUGUENOTS.  The  Huguenots:  their  Settlements, 
Churches,  and  Industries  in  England  and  Ireland.  By  Samuel  Smiles.  With  an 
Appendix  relating  to  the  Huguenots  in  America.    Crown  Svo,  Cloth,  $2  00. 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 

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